


Star Fire

by Empress_Matcha



Series: Star Fire [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: AU where I'm going to stick every fluffy and sad cliche I can because I like to Suffer, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Series Spoilers, Slow Burn, THERE'S SPOILERS OKAY SO MANY SPOILERS LIKE ALL OF THE SPOILERS, They still have quirks, an HP au but like not really?? the story strays away from it many times, magic and quirks, mentions of a lot of things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 05:52:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 61,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12029520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Empress_Matcha/pseuds/Empress_Matcha
Summary: Maybe he didn't say it right.Though the Floo network had obviously, miraculously, connected - he was absolutely sure that he wasn't in another fireplace.Actually, he was falling from the sky.BNHA AU that dips into the HP world and then...somewhere else.





	1. Pilot: Everything Comes Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [littlemusings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemusings/gifts).



> This is for my godmother.  
> I can't put into words the sheer amount of appreciation I have for you inspiring me to be creative when I didn't think I had it in me. I've wanted to grow in writing for so long, and your passion has driven me to believe that I just might be capable of something great. 
> 
> You're a giant weab.

_He was eight years old at a Ministry function with his father when a tall, blue eyed man held a conversation with him. Taller than his father, with a permanent smile on his face - he couldn’t help the mixture of uncertainty and relief in his presence._

_“Should you ever need to Floo to safety, or just to see me, my boy, do not hesitate to seek me with these words.”_

_He frowned up at the man. “That doesn't make sense. It's not an address -”_

_There was booming laughter from Auror Toshinori and a playful grin. “Then you will not need to worry about forgetting it, hm?”_

  


He was fifteen when Fuyumi’s Patronus found him during midday in the library. He was already moving with his wand gripped in his sleeve as it spoke in his sister’s hushed voice.

_“Shouto...run..”_

He ran up passages and dark stairwells, his classmates jumped out of his way as he made his way up, up, up. He thought he may have heard Iida's voice, but he couldn't stop.

There was dread in his bones when he reached the Headmaster’s Office, praying to whatever god was listening that it would be empty. Perhaps there was one, after all, when he found the room blessedly clear. He closed the door behind him and began to rush towards -

Gods are not that kind, it would seem, as the door is suddenly slammed open before he could cross the room.

An automatic “Protego!” is up but still he staggered back from the force of the incoming hex from the man.

“Shouto!” His father barked. “What do you think -”

But he had tossed powder into the flames, practically throwing himself into green embers with a clear shout, _“All Might!”_  
  


Maybe he didn't say it right.

Though the Floo network had obviously, miraculously, connected - he was absolutely sure that he wasn't in another fireplace.

Actually, he was falling from the sky.

Gritting his teeth, he took note of the tree below him and managed a possibly useless levitating charm along with an equally possibly useless cushioning charm on himself. He tucked his wand into his sleeve and barely had the time to brace himself for the branches.

He probably snapped right through a thicker branch but then crashed into something warm before falling to the snowy ground.

There’s a roll in the landing, arms which attempt in vain to steady the impact, and breath leaving a body.

Shouto felt heat underneath him - a person, his mind supplied - and he quickly tried to put his weight off of them when his gloved hands slip anyway and he toppled.

“Oof -”

A tiny, traitorous voice in his mind told him to just stay there, never mind that someone was getting crushed under his weight. He felt so _heavy_ and his supply of magic screamed at him to stop moving, to rest.

“I'm sor-” with a huff, he tried again, rising a little with success, but words fail him at that moment, because he had fallen on a lot of freckles.

Freckles, on a face which also held concerned green eyes, like summer grass likely to be beneath the snow below Shouto’s covered fingertips, which lay millimeters away from dark locks. “Are you okay?”

“You're asking that to someone who just knocked you out of a tree.”

“You fell into the tree.” the person, a boy in a striped blue sweater groaned.

Shouto pulled away from the boy, who seemed to be about his age. “My apologies.”

The boy grunted and sat up, cocking his head to the side. “You didn't answer my question.”

“I'm fine. You broke my fall.”

At this, the boy laughed, and Shouto’s side hurt so he wondered if he was fine after all. “I'm glad. You're a lot lighter than you look, considering, y’know, physics.”

“Cushioning and levitating charms.” Which reminded him to quickly take his wand from his sleeve and inspect it for damage. Finding none, he cast _Finite_ , and pressed his right hand to his side, relieved to feel it only a tad tender.

The boy had begun muttering to himself. “A levitating charm cast while falling doesn't mean flight but maybe it could slow descent, but is the limit of that from the caster to object or caster to ground being levitated from? But if you're falling then maybe that already counts as levitation if -” he blinked, a guilty grin fanning away his calculated gaze. “Sorry.”

“That's fine,” Shouto said, though he filed the sudden thought process to think about for later. He stood up and took in the snowy scape -a courtyard, perhaps, when he finally noticed the looming castle above.

Hogwarts castle.

Well, that would probably explain the drain in energy. The Floo had to find a price somewhere to transport him several countries over.

“Are you - do you mind telling me why you were falling from the sky?” The boy asked, a little cautiously, eyes on the heavy uniform. “You're a little far from Durmstrang.” _Very far from Durmstrang, more like._

The boy was still sitting on the ground. Shouto offered his hand to help him up. “I'm looking for Auror Toshinori.” He replied.

The boy perked at that, taking Shouto’s hand and stood up as well. There’s snow in his hair, though it didn’t weigh down its unruliness. “All Might? I think he's with the Headmaster right now. Do you want me to take you to him?”

Shouto almost sagged in relief. He’d read about Hogwarts’ strange castle with moving staircases and ever-changing hallways. “If you wouldn't mind.”

“No problem. Just give me a minute here…” He took out his wand as he turned on his heel to go towards the tree they had fallen out of.

There was a frown on Shouto’s face as his mind registered that while they stood outside in late November, the petals which he had mistaken for snowflakes in the boy’s curls had actually been pink petals of the cherry blossom tree in full bloom. The branch, littered with lush green leaves and blossoms (which also proved to be the cause of the light ache below his ribcage) lay by the tree’s roots, and he watched the boy crouch down and lay a gentle hand on it.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I'll fix you up right away.” The boy murmured. He cast a levitation charm on the branch and brings it high into the tree, and Shouto can see that it goes nearly where it had snapped off. The boy placed his right hand on the trunk, and closed his eyes.

There was no spell that he says and no wand movement. The branch merged into the tree and the part where it broke merely grew into a healthy arm. Magic is practically leaping off of the boy’s figure.

“What's your name?” Shouto blurted out in the moment he realized that he didn't know whether to attempt to douse the lightning bouncing on the boy’s skin or if it was really alright to just watch.

The boy quickly turned just slightly to meet Shouto’s incredulous face with wide eyes. “I -” his mouth widened into a cherub smile. “I totally forgot to introduce myself, I'm sorry!” He exclaimed. Time seemed to turn back, as Shouto watched the tree go from full bloom to what the tree was expected to look like in the first place: a little gnarled and bare. “I'm Midoriya Izuku.”

Shouto took note that they've been speaking Japanese this whole time, and barely formed a response without stammering. “Todoroki Shouto.”

In a blink, the snow covered ground was gone, replaced by cobblestones dampened by a light sprinkle of rain which fell upon Shouto’s senses.

Midoriya was smiling all the while, the glow faded away when he took his hand off of the trunk. He walked over to Shouto and tilted his head, “Let’s get going.”

Tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, Shouto fell in step as he's led through Hogwarts’ halls. Their footsteps were hardly offbeat but still drove curiosity out of his mouth. “What was that out there?”

Midoriya seemed to have had been lost in thought because his head snapped up quickly. “What?”

“With the -” _everything_. “Courtyard. Was it your Quirk?”

They turned a corner and Midoriya sighed. “I - I wasn't really supposed to let you see any of that.” He admitted. His eyes darted nervously before he slowed just a step so that their shoulders almost touched as they walk on. “I know what you saw was...weird, even for magic, but I can't - can't really explain it without breaking a promise, and it wasn't my Quirk, so - uh, actually,” he stopped then, as they come to stop by a statue of a grinning gargoyle. He peered up at Shouto with a hopeful, sheepish smile. “Do you mind keeping that between us?”

There’s something screeching in his head to oblige, to momentarily swallow his curiosity whole, and prompts Shouto to nod his head even though he wanted to _know_.

But Midoriya brightened, and it reminded Shouto of something. There's no chance to ponder, however, because Midoriya turned to the gargoyle and promptly enunciated, “Algernon” in English.

The gargoyle jumped to the side, revealing a winding staircase. Shouto followed Midoriya up the narrow space until they come to a heavy-looking, wooden door.

Midoriya knocked.

There's an immediate response from the other side. “Come in!” called a cheery voice.

Shouto knew he was having a long day with one surprise after another, but perhaps it was starting to get a little too odd.

Hogwarts’ teaching staff held a few of the world’s most renowned Aurors in history. Seeing some of them gathered in the room at that moment was...a little ridiculous.

Toshinori Yagi, internationally known as a bright flame of justice with golden hair and an eternal smile, kneeled on a small cushion in front of a kotatsu with a little cup of tea held between both of his large hands. All Might’s eternal smile seemed strained.

Kayama Nemuri, though known as Midnight, sat demurely on top of the kotatsu table with a bowl of snacks in her lap and a thoughtful expression on her face as she peeled a mikan.

Aizawa Shouta lay on his side in a yellow sleeping bag by the table, but also had a steaming cup by his face. On top of his shoulder was Headmaster Nedzu, who held his own cup in his paws and welcomed them in.

“Oh? A Durmstrang boy?” Midnight all but purred around an orange slice.

All Might’s strain morphed into recognition. “Ah, young Todoroki! What a surprise!”

“No wonder Endeavor’s pissed.” Aizawa grumbled from his sleeping bag. He lifts his eyes to Shouto. “You had better have a good explanation for the trouble you've brought.”

So he stole a deep breath and straightened his shoulders before looking at All Might. “I tried it, in the Floo. It's a little off, I think since I didn't end up in another fireplace, but it did get me here anyway without a portkey.”

All Might looked a little grave, and Shouto thought he may have caught onto something. “Todoroki, my boy…” He trailed off to look at the Aurors in the room, his gaze ending at Nedzu, who nodded.

The Headmaster turned to the boys, with an easy expression. “Midoriya-kun, I take it you escorted our guest here? Thank you so much!”

Midoriya shook his head. “It was my pleasure.”

There was a false thoughtful tilt of Nedzu’s head. “It seems that we have something we talk about, Midoriya-kun, so I’m sorry to ask if you would mind stepping out for a bit.”

There's unexpected objection is in Shouto’s throat as Midoriya was ruffled to respond, “Oh, yes! Of course! I'm sorry!” He bowed.

Nedzu giggled lightheartedly with a wave. “No need to apologize. I believe we may be in need of you later, so do you mind coming back when called?”

Midoriya nodded. “Yes, of course.”

“Splendid! I believe Recovery Girl needed an extra hand in the hospital wing, perhaps you'd help her out in the meanwhile?” Nedzu suggested.

Midoriya affirmed with another nod. He bowed again to the Aurors with a smile, and before he left the room his smile widened at Shouto just a little bit. “I'll see you later.” He said.

Shouto’s blood rushed in his ears and he willed himself to not stare after Midoriya when he went through the door. He weakly wished that he had asked the boy to stay after all, but pushed it aside.

The room was grim even with Nedzu’s semi-comforting smile. “Now, what can we do for you, Todoroki-kun?”

  


Izuku released a shaky breath as he left Todoroki’s line of sight. Or rather now that he's not under Todoroki’s mismatched eyes, he has the time to soothe his heart from leaping at his rib cage.

Todoroki Shouto was part Veela. Izuku had known this even before the moment the name clicked in his brain and helpfully supplied him with articles of the Durmstrang prodigy. He had known this while Todoroki followed him through the halls and his long strides reminded Izuku of Auror Midnight’s movements during combat. And if there had been any doubt in this fact all that while in Izuku’s mind (there hadn't been), then it was blown away when Todoroki spoke and Izuku made the fortunate mistake of meeting his eyes and tried putting together a response at the same time. The sound of Todoroki’s voice combined with the proximity between them so Izuku could whisper was a spell on its own.

While Todoroki didn't actually do anything to unravel Izuku, he just really didn't have to. It was minuscule compared to Professor Kayama’s potent bloodline, but, Merlin help him - Todoroki Shouto was very pretty.

And then there was that moment when Todoroki had asked for his name and Izuku almost blew up the cherry blossom tree he had been working on for over a month now, just from sheer force of flustered he was.

He's breathless with the amount of effort it took him to not wax poetic about Todoroki’s face (and a little from the dull bruise by his ribs but that's probably from when he fell out of the tree) when he reached the infirmary, though he had taken his time to get there.

Recovery Girl was without a doubt, the most talented Healer in all of history. Though she stood in her later years, the witch was still brimming with energy and hardly ever needed help with anything. Said little witch stood on top of a wooden stool whilst stirring something in a large potions pot in the middle of the hospital wing.

Izuku heard the cackling of a bad Muggle movie in his mind but knocked on the door. “Hi, Chiyo-baasan.”

Shuzenji Chiyo finished a counterclockwise stir when she looks up, gaze immediately checking Izuku for injuries. She smiled warmly at his condition. “Midoriya-kun, how good to see you.”

He approached and took a quick look at the contents of the pot. It was a lovely shade of purple. “Sleeping Draught?” He asked. He frowned, remembering Recovery Girl’s last counterclockwise stir. “Dreamless Sleep.” He said with a confident nod.

Recovery Girl waved a stasis spell over the cauldron. “Right you are!” She says, moving down the step stool.

Izuku rushed to her side and helps her down.

She chuckled. “Always such a nice boy you are, Midoriya-kun. Did the Headmaster send you my way?”

He puffed up his chest with a grin. “I'll help in any way I can.”

“How about you help me bottle the potion, and we can go over your diagnostic charm?”

“Yes, m’am!”

It's a little over an hour when All Might walked into the infirmary, his voice carrying to the back of the room, where Recovery Girl and Izuku have tea between them. “Hello, Recovery Girl!”

They had made quick work of bottling the potion for Dreamless Sleep. Recovery Girl pointed out a few suggestions and chinks in Izuku’s diagnosis and prognostic spells before she had suggested they relax.

“How do you do, All Might?” She greeted. “Have you come to take Midoriya-kun from me?”

“I am well, thank you!” All Might says. He turned to Izuku, “My boy, if you would come back with me.”

They excuse themselves from the hospital wing, Recovery Girl thanking Izuku again for his help.

“I'm sorry we’ve kept you waiting, my boy.” All Might said with a slight frown, walking side by side with his student.

Izuku shook his head. “Recovery Girl’s good to hang around with when you and I don't hobble through her doors with something broken.” He joked.

All Might agreed, and asked him how his studies were going.

Izuku quickly goes through the areas he'd been improving on, and the areas he still needed work, before remembering Todoroki. “He - uh, dropped in, when I was in the middle of meditating.” He admitted. “Oh, but I asked him to keep it a secret, and I didn't say anything!” He added.

His mentor looked thoughtful. “I think young Todoroki will keep his word. Though I’m surprised, it was good you were to keep it from him. He's very keen on answers, from what I can tell.” He mused, before grinning at Izuku. “Quite like yourself, I would say!”

Izuku’s face flushed, really, for no reason.

They get back to the Headmaster’s office, where Izuku finds that Professor Aizawa had crept out of his sleeping bag and was holding a hushed conversation with Professor Midnight. The two wore little grins which sent a chill down Izuku’s spine.

Headmaster Nedzu stood by the fireplace with Todoroki, who sat on a stool with a worn out hat on his head.

The Sorting Hat gave what Izuku thinks to be a grin. “Ah, Midoriya. This one is giving me almost as much trouble as you did.”

“Welcome back, you two.” Nedzu chirped.

“Don't you like the trouble?” Izuku said thoughtfully.

Todoroki had his brows a little bit pinched, but nodded at Izuku and All Might. “He's giving me trouble.”

There was a mumble from the hat before it barked, “Slytherin, since I couldn’t get that boy over there to them last time.”

Aizawa trudged over and picked up the hat from Todoroki’s head, handing over the old relic to Nedzu’s paws. “Not that what House you are matters.”

Nedzu levitated the hat to a cabinet he can't reach before turning to address Izuku. “Midoriya-kun,”

Izuku straightened, though a little nervous. “Yes?”

Nedzu gestured to the room with his paws. “We seem to have a situation and would require your help, with Todoroki-kun’s transfer.”

Izuku’s brows shoot up. _Transfer? This far in the school year?_

“It's sudden, and there are several things which need to be settled,” Nedzu says evenly. “This is where your case comes in handy, as you have a spare room.”

Izuku blinked. “He's...going to live with m-me?” He gaped. “But I - oh, not that I don't want you - Todoroki-kun, to uh, be my roommate! Because honestly the dorm is too big anyway, but I'm - my thing is -” but the thing was - he lived alone for reasons. He already has a hard time fooling his friends, so how is he supposed to keep a secret with a roommate?

Todoroki glanced at him from the stool, looking a little helpless, and Izuku shuts up because he’s sure he’ll die if he didn't.

All Might pressed a hand to Izuku’s shoulder. “My boy, young Todoroki will be under your care. Do not worry! Everything will be fine!”

Midnight glided across the room to smile at Todoroki. “And don't you worry about your family, boy,” she said softly, though there was wickedness on her lips. “We’ll personally see to their safety.”

“We should get going,” Aizawa said gruffly.

Nedzu nodded and smiled at Todoroki as well. “As promised, Todoroki-kun. You're in good hands with Midoriya-kun.”

Izuku realized, as he once again leads Todoroki down corridors, that underneath the gentle words from his professors was...anger.

He felt almost sorry for the person who had attracted the wrath of the Aurors, but it was smothered by the feeling that was sure they deserved it.  
  


Shouto followed Midoriya through hallways lit with torches, lamps, and the last window from probably ten minutes ago proved that they were really high up in the castle, since he had looked down below to see the sun setting.  

Midoriya read instructions on a parchment hastily written by All Might before the professors had all but tossed them out of the Headmaster’s office. He's muttering them to himself while turning corners and not missing a step, and occasionally he’d look up to make sure that Shouto was still beside him.

There were little paper lanterns floating in the next hallway they turn to, and Shouto had already lost count of how many hallways that it had been. The glow within them don't flicker, so he wondered how they produced light. The next turn had glowing mosaics on the walls of flying birds and blooming flowers, all in constant motion.

At the end was that of a little girl in a simple white dress. She visibly perked up at the sight of Midoriya.

“Hi, Eri. I'm back.” Midoriya says warmly.

“Welcome back.” The girl replied brightly. She had a little horn on the side of her temple.

“This is Todoroki Shouto, Eri! He's - he’ll be living with me starting today.”

Shouto nodded. “Hello.”

She blushed, hiding behind her curtain of hair and opening her mouth before closing it again and looking to Midoriya helplessly. “W-what is something that is slow to wear?”

Midoriya met Shouto’s eyes with an apologetic grin. “She's shy.” He said. “Do you know the answer?”

Shouto frowned. Slow to wear? “Is that...a joke?”

Izuku laughed. “It's a riddle! We can't get in if we can't solve it.”

“A turtleneck.”

Eri giggled, floating to the wall on their right. “Correct.” The wall she previously occupied vanished with golden sparks.

“That's a good one, Eri!” Midoriya says with a grin.

The girl beamed. “Thank you!”

Shouto followed Midoriya through a shimmering curtain and reach another flight of stairs, though this one winds up. They pass by glass stained windows, vibrant and a little abstract for Shouto to place at the time.

Midoriya paused when they're a few feet away from where the stone steps become wood, turning to Shouto with a hesitant smile. “Do you mind it if I grab hold of you here? The wards will go off if I'm not physically accompanying any newcomers.”

The curiosity burned on his tongue again but Shouto nodded, though startling when his pinky was taken by Midoriya’s own and he's sort of dragged the next couple of steps. His pinky is released when they pass three wooden steps, and Midoriya grinned at him as they reach the top not too long after.

They enter straight into what Shouto thinks to be a large, round common area. There were dark blue velvet curtains down on the opposite side of the entrance except for the nook in the middle, where a large stained glass window depicted the twilight.

There’s a hearth to their immediate left and kotatsu table sits a good distance from the flames, littered with open notebooks and books and pens and pencils. An upright piano sat just a few steps away with books piled on top, and a love seat not too far from it. Above them, the room was well lit and warmed from what looked like a large silver disc of bright golden flames.

“Sorry for the mess! I have notes everywhere -” Midoriya flittered to the kotatsu table, closing notebooks and stacking them into a pile. “I'm so embarrassed - I wish I had known I was having someone over today so I could have cleaned up, but really I should have cleaned up in the first place so I was just irresponsible and lax and -”

A loud grumble erupted from Shouto’s stomach, which caused his face to burn in his own embarrassment and halt Midoriya’s panic at the same time.

Shouto sighed. “It’s really not messy at all.”

“There’s more.” Midoriya quipped. He walked around the table to the far left of the room, where there was a kitchenette and small island in the middle. Midoriya brightened at the plates on the island. “Oh, they already asked the kitchens for us.” he carried the plates over by the windows, where there was a wooden table fit for a family though only had two chairs.

Shouto followed, looking at the vase of snowdrops on top of a few books in the middle of the table. He took a seat when Midoriya offered. Looking down at the plate full of food, he sees that it was in a well-placed stasis charm.

“There’s usually more options at the Great Hall, but I think the professors want us in the room for the night just in case of news.” Midoriya said, taking out his wand and casting a non-verbal _Finite Incantatem._ “You can, uh, start eating, but I feel as though I should at least tell you a little bit about, uh - myself? Or at least my situation, if it could be called that, or well - it _can_ , because it is - okay, I’ll try to be clear, I’m sorry.” he bites his lip to stop the flow of words, looking at Shouto and then down to his hands fiddling with chopsticks.

“It’s just my face.” Shouto said flatly, sure it was blank and probably discouraging the boy across from him. “I’m listening.”

“No!” Midoriya all but shouted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean - to yell, or to uh, look at you like you’re making a face, you’re actually not making one - I mean, ugh…” he ran a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut for a long moment. When he opened them, there was a look of calm and determination that shocked through Shouto’s system - he had to stop chewing to keep from choking on what little gasp would have escaped him. Midoriya shakily took a deep breath and though his smile is a little wobbly, his back was straight and his hands were still with his left over the right. “Headmaster Nedzu already said it, but I have the room to myself. Or more specifically, the entire tower.” he began. “I’m not entirely sure how Durmstrang dorming works, but here in Hogwarts we typically have dormitory rooms with four students max in each room, and the Houses are separated by towers across the campus. My case is that my schedule is a lot different from everyone else and I transferred here, too, just this year in September. Combined, I got to be in this tower with all this space for my, ah, research. It also doesn’t disturb any roommates when I have to leave suddenly.”

It was vague, for an explanation, and Shouto wondered if he was ever going to fully know anything that went on with Midoriya as he swallowed. Oh, was there stamina replenishing potion in the rice? He felt a little less groggy now. “It sounds like you’re given a lot of freedom.”

Midoriya stopped fiddling with his chopsticks for the sake of properly using them and takes a bite of his food before nodding. “In comparison to the students here, absolutely. It’s because I’m busy with a lot of things.” he said. “I’m training to be an Auror, for one, so I leave the school sometimes.”

Shouto stared at him. “You’re...my age, aren’t you?”

“I’m fifteen?”

“My age,” Shouto confirmed. “And you’re telling me you’re in Auror training.” he said, barely keeping the disbelief from showing in his voice.

“I get why you wouldn’t believe me,” Midoriya offered with a nervous grin. “The professors can tell you, if you want to ask them later. Also, no one’s supposed to know that either, but since we’ll otherwise be spending a lot of time together, I thought you might as well know.”

It was getting a little difficult to eat and think and listen and process everything, and Shouto was so tired _from_ everything, potions in his food or no. “Spending a lot of time together because you were assigned to watching me?”

Midoriya tilted his head. “Not really watching you? We’ll have the same classes, which are mostly separate from the other Houses unless they’re joint anyway, but otherwise we’re regular dorm mates.” he smiled. “I mean, as regular dorm mates as could be, I guess, considering.”

He was surprised, sure that the Hogwarts staff would want to keep a close eye on him. “They didn’t ask you to watch me?”

“They didn’t really ask me to do much except for us to get acquainted and stay here until they get back.” Their plates empty, Midoriya took them to the sink in the kitchen before walking back to the table. “There are just the rooms left to see - ah, they’re kind of a mess, too..”

Shouto followed him to the door to the left first, between the windows and the kitchen.

“This is my room.” Midoriya says with a slight flush, pushing the door open.

Pikachu.

He hadn’t grown up with a lot of Muggle interactions because of his father’s insistence of rigorous magical upbringing, but Shouto was sure that Midoriya’s room was - from the bedsheets to the giant bean bag on the floor, that the yellow mouse with the red cheeks on every surface he saw - indeed full of Pikachu. There were posters of Pikachus on the walls, with ketchup bottles and sometimes Pichus and some green owl Pokemon he didn't have the name for at the time. There was a fuzzy looking Pikachu on the bed, on top of the Pikachu cased pillows. A bookcase ran along the wall from ceiling to floor, all but one corner filled with large texts - the wood of that also had Pikachus zapping along the edges. The wooden closet to the far side had Pikachu shaped brass knobs, and there were figurines of Pikachu as -

Shouto was going to lose it, he was sure of it when a strangled _“Oh my god.”_ escaped him, when his feet carried him across the room to stand over the army of little figurines of Pikachus in the Hogwarts’ Auror/teaching staff’s battle robes. He swiveled around to look at Midoriya, who had been gaping at him and had jumped when he suddenly turned his way.

“I'm going to guess you know what Pokemon are?” Midoriya said with pink cheeks.

Remembering himself, Shouto struggled with composure. “Yes. Sorry - I was surprised by these,” he pointedly looked at the All Might Pikachu. “That I just ran in your room. I'm sorry for my rudeness.”

Midoriya’s hands flailed in front of him. “No, no! It's fine! I was letting you in here, you know.” He assured. “Do you like them?”

“How...are these even possible?”

“I...made them,” Midoriya admitted, a hand coming to rest behind his neck. “Through Transfiguration. It was pretty hard, but a lot of fun to get the details.”

“That's impressive.” Shouto said. “It's not easy to be able to make something so well.”

Midoriya took a sharp breath in, reddening ever more so. “Thank you, I'm quite proud of them.” He smiled. “Want to see your room now?”

Shouto nodded, following Midoriya out and across the living room and into what would be his bedroom. He was surprised to find tatami floors when Midoriya pushed the door open.

“Ah, I didn't know what I wanted to do with this room when I got the tower, so I thought about trying to keep it traditional -” Midoriya explained as they walked in.

There was a dark wooden bookshelf to the left wall of the room, also brimming with texts and some scrolls. A clean whiteboard stood by it, with colourful markers in a magnetized cup the shape of Pikachu’s face. There was a closet to the right of the door and stacking drawers in the corner. On top of the lowest box was a single blue vase for a snowdrop flower on top of some books, on the next box was a Pikachu plushy also sitting on books. It left for a lot of open space.

“There's only a futon and pillows and blankets in the closet,” Midoriya told him with an uncertain smile. “I can help you with Transfiguring it to a mattress, if you want? And maybe we can find something to turn into a bed frame, too - oh, unless you won't need my help if you want to do it yourself, because you might want a specific type of frame and mattress -”

“This is actually perfect, Midoriya.” Shouto said, cutting him off and offering a small smile for his disruption. Midoriya gaped, probably from being interrupted, so he added, “I sleep better in Japanese rooms.”

Midoriya brightened at that. “What a good coincidence, then!” His eyes look over the bookshelves and the whiteboard. “I'll move those out of the way, if you want.”

Shouto shrugged. “I don't mind. This was your room first.”

“It's your room now.” Midoriya said firmly. “Oh, there's only one bathroom, though.” He added thoughtfully. He led Shouto out of the room, and the bathroom door was between his bedroom door and the piano.

It had a bathtub and shower head, a wide counter with streaks of pearlescent greens held a single sink, and the mirror took up the upper part of the wall. There was a long metal rack to the side for towels, and a waste bin. The tiles on the walls were pretty, inlaid with something shimmery like opal.

He wonders what a student had to do to live in these conditions when they go back to the living room. Midoriya didn’t seem to be a prisoner to the tower, with all the accessible exits available. _Was it to keep others away from him?_

Midoriya sat by the kotatsu table. “That’s the coat closet, but my broom’s in there, too.” He pointed to the door closest to the stairs. He twisted around to point to the kitchenette. “There's a small pantry there, too.” He turned back with a grin. “And that's pretty much it.” His posture was relaxed, unguarded, and his face only portrayed earnestness.

If anything, he would be the type of person people would always want around.

He made to sit across from Midoriya, and was reminded of his fall from earlier when it throbbed as he took a seat.

“What's wrong?”

Shouto pressed on his left side with his fingers. “I might have a bruise from the branch I broke on my way down.” He says. “Sorry about that, by the way -” he goes still when he found that Midoriya had scooted over close enough that he could count his freckles in the light of the hearth.

“Are you okay?”

“I'm fine. It's nothing.”

Hesitant, he moved back only a little bit. “Do you mind if I look? Not _look_ I mean, I've been practicing some spells so…”

“You're a Healer?” Shouto asked in bewilderment.

“What? No, me being a Healer would actually be unbelievable.” Midoriya said cheekily. “But I'm the only healing apprentice you'll find on campus, so maybe you want to give me some practice?”

He sighed. It couldn't hurt, and he wasn't dying from a bruise. “I guess.”

“Okay, thank you!” Midoriya’s eyes shone with unconcealed glee. He had his wand out and did a nonverbal cast with a quick movement Shouto was unfamiliar with, moving over where he had pressed.

His wand was glowing blue and pulsing (oh, with his heartbeat), hardly flickering. He pulled back after a few moments with a smile. “Congratulations, you were right. It's just a little bruising that'll be little tender for the night.”

“That's what I said.”

“Do you want me to heal it for you, anyway?”

Shouto paused. “You can perform successful healing spells?”

“Just two, for now.” Midoriya admitted. “Three, on a condition.”

“Okay.” He consented. He watched Midoriya’s wand movements, committing them to memory along with the fact that Midoriya was very well trained in non-verbal spells. When he feels the muscle relax from the healing, he asked, “What condition?”

It was just a bruise, so Midoriya sat back after a minute of concentration. “Soul mate condition.” He said quietly. “I know I have one, but I don't know who they are.”

He wanted to ask how he knew without knowing, but there was no way for him to without stumbling or being invasive, so Shouto nods. “That's good. Soul mates are rare, even in a world of magic and Quirks.”

“You're right about that.”

Shouto bent side to side experimentally. “I can't feel it anymore. You did a good job.”

Midoriya’s laughter was breathy and relieved. “I'm glad.” He stood up and made his way to the kitchenette. “Chiyo-baasan would have my head if I couldn't heal a bruise correctly.”

He heard cabinets opening, the tap running, and porcelain clinking. It wasn't long until Midoriya came back with a platter holding two cups of tea and a bowl of biscuits.

One of the cups was set in front of him. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” Midoriya chirped, sitting back down. “We’re waiting for them to send a message or for them to request the Floo to open up, so we might as well try to relax.” He took a small sip. “Did you have any questions for me?”

He had a lot. Some more pressing than others and some questions he couldn't even gather into words. “What House are you in?”

Midoriya grinned. “Won't you guess?”

“Ravenclaw.” He said immediately, though feeling as though he should have actually thought about it more.

“That wasn't even a guess. But yes, I'm in Ravenclaw.” Midoriya answered a little proudly. “Which reminds me...there are classes tomorrow. It's already -” he looks over Shouto’s shoulder with a squint. “It's already eight thirty. I only have my lesson with Aizawa-sensei on Mondays, and sometimes he changes the times so I guess we’re waiting on that, too.” He hummed thoughtfully, reaching across the table to take out one of the bottom notebooks from its stack and a pen.

Shouto watched him write and draw some lines, muttering all the while. The tea had been at the perfect temperature to drink when Midoriya had handed him his cup (which also featured a Pikachu, this time with it slumbering surrounded by Pokeballs), but it was beginning to lose its heat.

Midoriya turned the notebook to face Shouto, sliding it across the table. “Our schedule would look something like this for at least this week, and I think Nedzu-sensei wanted at least a little more mingling with the other classes, so we’ll go to those in between.”

“In between...where?” Shouto asked dryly. The schedule drawn had back to back classes and activities and even some study halls. “You really do all of this?” Even his Durmstrang schedule hadn’t been this hectic, and that was on top of training sessions with his father on weekends.

“When I can,” Midoriya affirmed. “We have O.W.Ls at the end of the year, too, so the study times might be off. I have one on one lessons on some weeks, so I'm not sure if you'll be with me on those days or with your House? I don't want to drag you everywhere I go - wait, that sounds rude, um, I mean I don't want you to think you're shackled to my schedule? Although you kind of are? For now? I think Professor Nedzu’ll come up with some sort of tests so you’ll have your own schedule unless of course you end up in mine since you're a genius oh but I'm not saying that _I’m_ a genius, kind of? I -”

Shouto held up a hand, feeling a corner of his mouth turn down against his will. Was this tea caffeinated? He could use some caffeine right then. “Midoriya, slow down. I think I get what you're saying.”

His lips pursed and he bowed his head slightly. “Sorry.” And Shouto immediately felt like an asshole, so he grasped at the tails of the conversation.

“Don't be. What are you saying about me being a genius?”

He gave him a questioning look. “You are?”

“Have you,” he gripped his cup in his hands, even more lacking in heat now. “Have you heard of me?” Slight frost began to creep on the sides of the porcelain.

“I don't think there isn't anyone in the school who hasn't heard of you.”

“Because my father is Endeavor?” He couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice, even though he spoke quietly.

Todoroki Enji had been the best Auror in all magical nations for several years before Toshinori had showed up seemingly out of nowhere. Besides keeping place as second-best international Auror, he was a businessman and was renowned for his mastery over Fiendfyre and his Hellfire Quirk, respectfully.

“Well, that, and because you've consistently ranked first in Durmstrang in your year since you transferred, your flying as Seeker last year was so good it impressed professional quidditch players, there's been a few articles of you in the research field on your high potency of elemental magic, rumors on your Quirk, and you wandlessly froze the koi pond in Mahoutokoro when you were little.”

Shouto couldn't help himself, he gaped a little bit like a koi fish right then, a little flustered at having someone relay details of himself but -

“Koi pond?” It came out quietly, and as a question. There was a sudden pounding at his temple and he put his left hand there. “What -”

_What koi pond?_

The memory hit him the way the Durmstrang ship broke water from the air - slowly and heavily and almost like it would sink before magic and physics allowed for buoyancy.

_He's eleven. He stood in front of the small Kitsune temple in the middle of the eastern koi pond. His school robes look like the dawn: pink and yellow, though time presented twilight. Shouto had been squatting down to feed the koi with bread from lunch when the reflection of the water caught a burst of light from the sky. He looked up, almost falling into the water when he realized that a comet was coming straight towards him. His Quirk activated suddenly, in a way it never had before - he had only been able to make little snow clouds and freeze small areas at a time with his ice, but now - the koi pond froze over in an instant, with terrifying ease. He reached up with both hands when the comet drew near -_

He heard Midoriya’s voice calling his name, but it sounded far away, like he was being pulled under the ice and into freezing waters.

  
  


“Todoroki-kun -?!” Izuku jumped up, barely catching Todoroki by his shoulders as his eyes fluttered shut and nearly smacked his head on the table. The cup bounced off of the table and shattered onto the wooden floor.

He barely winced at the sound even as the abrupt massive headache bloomed and threatened the space between his eyeballs. Instead, he garnered his focus on gently setting Todoroki’s head down on the table, summoning a pillow from the loveseat to put in between his face and the wood. Despite his unconscious state, Todoroki’s forehead was still just slightly creased in pain.

Izuku went about fixing the cup and vanishing the tea spill, casting a diagnostic charm and a healing spell, all in rapid succession. When the healing spell didn't work (as he thought it wouldn't from the results of the diagnostic spell), he settled for smoothing out the crease with his fingers.

Todoroki’s skin was a little tempered both ways towards warm and cool. His breathing evened into a slumber as the lines relaxed under Izuku’s healing touch. He looked so peaceful that Izuku almost missed that life changing event.

_Holy Merlin in Hell I am so Fucked._

He gave himself a minute to slow his rabbit heart as his own headache subsided. He forced down the panic but allowed himself a tiny doleful whimper.

Izuku can freak out about that situation later, but for now…

For now, he can wonder about why Todoroki had a powerful Obliviate charm on the day that they had first met.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. November

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you alright?”  
> “I’m fine.” Shouto said automatically. Though he hadn’t checked, he was pretty sure that he had dodged everything and he hadn’t been up close like Midoriya had been.  
> Midoriya, who scoffed. “Right. Come on, let me heal that.” He pointed to a long cut on Shouto’s left forearm, ruining his shirt.  
> Or maybe he hadn’t dodged everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things to mention! I think I have some readers who haven't read Harry Potter or it has been a while or doesn't like the series at all, but I want to make it easy to read for everyone! 
> 
> Mentioned spells:   
> Rennervate - Reviving Spell  
> Nox - Extinguishing Charm (douses light)  
> Accio - Summoning Charm   
> Muffliato Charm - used to fill the ears of any person in the vicinity of the caster with an unidentifiable buzzing sound so as to allow conversing without being overheard.  
> Obliviate - Memory/Forgetfulness Charm  
> Apparate - form of wizard teleportation  
> Silencio - Silencing Charm

Shouto grasped for a star, and tried chasing it when he was pulled out of unconsciousness. He had to blink out of the fog of dreams several times, only slowly pulling himself up at the familiar sensation of being on the receiving side of  _ rennervate. _ He was aware of the hand on his shoulder now and the pillow he had been on. Did he fall asleep? At a kotatsu table? He turned to see worried green eyes on him.

“Todoroki-kun?” Midoriya’s voice was gentle. “Are you okay? I had to  _ rennervate _ you, I'm sorry.”

“What -” oh, his mouth felt like it had cotton shoved in it. Midoriya propped him up and pushed a glass of water in his hand. He gulped it down and set it on the table.

“You passed out.” Midoriya said quietly. “Are you okay?”

He can feel the remnants of a bad headache, but it was thankfully gone. “Sorry.”

Midoriya leaned back - he hadn't realized how close the other boy had been - and shook his head. “Don't be. I would have let you just sleep but...All Might sent a Patronus saying they’ll be here soon.”

Shouto exhaled. “Thank you.” He didn’t dare hope who “they” were, but he was relieved to finally hear from the Aurors. And a little anxious.

“You're welcome?”

He planted his face in the pillow, aware of how rude it was but finding himself mildly surprised at how comfortable he was at doing so. He tilted his head so that he could breathe and at least make polite eye contact. “It doesn't feel like I just smacked into the table, so you caught me, right? I think I dropped the cup, too.” he said carefully.

It was hard to tell because of the fire, but he was sure that Midoriya was looking a little red.

The fireplace expanded, flames roaring large and emerald.

Midoriya was on his feet faster than Shouto can register until he was being offered a hand up. He took it with a quiet thanks. He almost forgot to let go as he watched Auror Aizawa step out. Midoriya gave him a light squeeze before letting go, stepping forward.

“Welcome back.”

Aizawa nodded his head. “Ah, thanks - Midoriya, could you give me a moment with Todoroki?”

He’d convince himself later to blame the knots in his stomach for his next actions. Midoriya had already nodded and bowed slightly to excuse himself, but Shouto’s nerves took over his executive brain function in that moment to reach out for Midoriya’s wrist and say, “Stay here.” all without a single thought until his sanity screeched on the brakes at the utter  _ anarchy  _ -

Midoriya spluttered.

\- that had just ruined what ever normalcy he would have had with Midoriya, who had been a stranger just hours before until he shoved the boy out of a tree...never mind on the normalcy  _ where the hell was his filter system - _

“If you’re sure and Aizawa-sensei doesn’t mind…” Midoriya said with such a soft expression but with wide eyes that Shouto almost took it back.

He should have taken it back. He hadn’t meant to reach for Midoriya, to - not even ask, but  _ tell  _ him to stay. Midoriya had no part in his family problems, in any of his problems.

“Todoroki-kun?” He didn't have to look at Shouto like that, like… “It's okay if you want me to stay, and we can cast a  _ muffliato  _ on you and Aizawa-sensei so that I can't hear anything?”

Like he understood exactly what Shouto needed.

“It's for you to decide, Todoroki.” Aizawa said. “I can give you a vague rundown so Midoriya won't have to be affected by the  _ muffliato _ , and so I can talk to him about what he needs to do as well.”

He nodded and his senses caught up and he looked down to see his tight grip around Midoriya’s wrist. He pried it away. “Sorry. I don't know what came over me. The  _ muffliato  _ isn't necessary.”

Midoriya showed no discomfort, instead smiling back. “It's not a problem. Should we all take a seat then?”

“I’ll be quick. There are classes tomorrow and I want to go bed. There was a lot of moving around tonight.” Aizawa said tiredly. “First, Todoroki, we moved your mother. She’ll be staying at Midnight’s house for a little bit until we can figure out something else, but because she was in the hospital we also dispatched Recovery Girl to look after her for the meantime.”

Shouto felt numb with relief. He bowed his head. “Thank you.”

Aizawa eyed him levelly. “You know, despite all of this, we barely had enough to go on with this mission. Endeavor’s pissed and we couldn't do anything because you refuse to tell us what's really going on.” He paused. “Not that we’re looking for a fight with the number two hero anyway. I'm guessing you're not saying anything out of pride or fear or you're avoiding a clash of wizarding and hero politics.”

_ That wasn't even a guess. _ Midoriya’s voice echoed in his head. Aizawa was frighteningly perceptive despite his bored tone, but Shouto was somewhat relieved by it.

“My sister?”

“She met up with Nedzu at Durmstrang for your transfer, and then cleared your dorm over there along with some other things she got from Endeavor’s.” Aizawa reached into his pocket and pulled out two shrunken chests and dropped them into Shouto’s hand. “Which leads to school things. You're going to need things for the curriculum here, like a uniform. Midoriya, I'm tired so I really don't want to do our morning session anyway, so you and Todoroki go out and get school supplies in the morning, but show up to the afternoon fifth years’ class.” He sighed. “You're to go to all fifth year Slytherin classes with Todoroki for this week and maybe the next, so he can decide what classes he wants to take for O.W.Ls. Also, with Recovery Girl gone, you're the school Healer for the meanwhile so be ready to be called in. She said you could use the practice.”

Shouto was astonished.

Midoriya nodded. “I understand.”

More astonished.

“If you have any questions, just ask. Also, Todoroki, we have a small hero course club, so think about that when you decide how many classes you want to take on. It gets rough.”

A hero course in Hogwarts? “Quirks are diluted in magical areas, especially Hogwarts.” Shouto said, perplexed.

Aizawa looked at Midoriya, who chuckled nervously. “I'll let him explain all that. But do it some other time. It's late. I'm going now.” With a final nod, he turned to leave them.

Shouto looked at the shrunken boxes in his hand, feelings muddled by exhaustion but still very grateful. Relieved, to boot. He turned to Midoriya. “Thank you, Midoriya.”

Midoriya shook his head, grinning. “You're welcome. Let's get some sleep, it's been a long day and you deserve it.”

Shouto barely stood upright for the next few minutes. The moment Midoriya had said “sleep” his body insisted on shutting down immediately. Midoriya sets up the futon, sheets, and pillows, and unshrinks his trunks for him before casting a non-verbal spell ( _ nox _ , probably) to quell the light in his new room and Shouto is out though he still manages to hear Midoriya say goodnight.

  
  


There was a spell where you could put your hand  _ inside  _ of somebody’s body without them dying (though it was supposed to really, really hurt). It was dark magic and he wouldn't ever tell anyone that he knew it or where he had stumbled across it.

Izuku briefly wondered if Todoroki had a not dark version of it and if he had a phantom hand around Izuku’s still beating heart. He disposed of the ridiculous idea because he was being dramatic about someone he had just met.

Todoroki all but fell onto the futon when Izuku had laid it out - he had to coax Todoroki to roll off so he could get the blankets and pillows on, and maybe the sight of his new roommate groggily rolling away was too much and made him want to Die. He closed the door to Todoroki’s room and dashed for his own, heading straight for his bookshelf. It didn't take a minute of skimming before he buried his face in his hands.

Todoroki had said that soulmates were rare, even in their world of magic and quirks. He was absolutely right. Izuku had done the grueling research on soulmates for a whole year when he finally found that it was something that (sort of) explained why he had feelings that weren't his, why sometimes he felt pain but didn't have the marks to show for it, and then sometimes when there was both pain and bruises that would appear for a few seconds and so on. Records of people having soul mates were so few in the timeline, many accounts being vague and lacking details of symptoms. Added to that were theories and stories by creative minds.

It had taken a year and a half of travel and soul searching but he had compiled and written it all down in a notebook which was in what was now Todoroki’s room.

_ Of course. _ Izuku thought ruefully. Not that his notes would have done him any good, because there wasn't anything he really could do. But still, he should have grabbed it when Todoroki was passed out from their joint awful headache instead of staring at his beautiful sleeping face -

Shit, the  _ obliviate _ . That's important. That's...not something he can look into without letting Todoroki know that their connection had given Izuku a glimpse of his  _ obliviated _ past. Even if Izuku were to try to explain  _ that mess _ , there was still the chance of Todoroki not knowing what he was talking about, which would lead to Todoroki thinking Izuku had delved into his mind without his permission or was making something up and then he would hate Izuku and -  _ get a grip _ . He padded back to the kotatsu, pulling a new red notebook from the stack and pushing a blue pen onto a fresh page.

 

_ ‘November 29, Sunday, _

_ Starting a new journal separate from daily research journal because Todoroki Shouto fell from the sky and knocked me out of the sakura tree. He’s my soulmate! I want to cry because it’s not fair he’s so pretty. Ah, I shouldn’t be so shallow. He seems to be going through a rough time with his family, but I don’t know all the details. Before Aizawa-sensei came in to deliver that news, Todoroki-kun passed out when I told him about the koi pond in Mahoutokoro. We shared the pain of a nasty headache and when I managed to catch him before he hit his head on the table, I got the feeling of an  _ obliviate  _ charm on a memory from years ago, not sure if touching him triggered the connection to go through to show me the memory. The charm is powerful and I’m pretty sure it’s modified to knock him out when the memory is threatened to surface, also kind of subtle? Not sure if it’s traceable and if it’ll be hard to break because I can’t ask Todoroki-kun if I can just delve into his thoughts. I’m excited to become friends with him since we’ll be living together now...I hope nothing goes bad while he’s around me...I was really shocked when he grabbed my wrist and told me to stay when Aizawa-sensei came back to deliver news since Todoroki-kun is quite reserved? My heart was beating so fast I hope he couldn’t feel my pulse jump! _

 

He sighed, slumping onto the table and truly considered just sleeping there. He’d experienced cricks in his neck and back from doing it before, so he pulled himself up to go back to his room, placed the notebook on top of his drawer, and headed to the washroom.

Izuku went through the sequence of brushing his teeth and changing into sweatpants and a shirt before he fell face first into his Pikachu plushy on his bed. “ _ Nox. _ ” He mumbled, too tired to wave a hand, much less a wand. The room darkened.

The connection went both ways. It would be more potent on Izuku’s side, at least for now, but Todoroki would have to know that he had a soul mate, too, when Izuku had spent a majority of his life getting hurt and having a heart easily moved.

He didn't know what would carry through the connection and if it would be consistent because of his situation, but Izuku can at least be careful. He can stop getting hurt and -

Memories of blows and burns and aching muscles and bones felt by Todoroki through the years flow through him.

And now Izuku can protect him.

Izuku will protect him.

  
  
  


Shouto doesn't know what time it is when he wakes up. There's light filtering from above, soft and muted (sunlight?) that makes the ceiling look like paper, and he wonders if it is. He turns to his side, grimacing at both the feeling in his mouth and that of his Durmstrang uniform collar itching at his neck. But, he felt well rested if a little jet lagged (Floo-lagged?), and that was something. His chests were sitting side by side by his feet and recalls Midoriya setting everything up last night. He's warm under the blanket, so he sits up and places a hand on top to search it - and ah, there it was, the thrum of a warming charm. He feels good. Different from feeling well, but the sort of good that curls in his chest as he ends the charm. Midoriya would have had to have placed the warming charm on the blanket before he left the room, so the spell had been going on for however long Shouto had been sleeping. It's easily one of the nicest things anyone has done for him, even if he could regulate his body temperature.

He needed to go to the washroom. Maybe see if Midoriya was awake, and look for a clock.

He rolls the futon, folds the blanket, and stacks the six pillows (and he finds that he's grateful for the amount, too) by hand into the closet. He didn't spend long hunting for his toiletries, closing his trunk and deciding that organizing and unpacking could come later.

He's opening his door when he remembers that he's a  _ wizard _ so he could have put away the bedding with magic, and check the time on his wand (on his wrist if he tries), and Midoriya is awake at the table with a newspaper, a steaming mug, and a smile reaching his eyes.

“Good morning, Todoroki-kun.”

His bag of toiletries begin to slip from his suddenly slack fingers before he grips it closer to him, like an anchor because he was getting lost in -  _ what is wrong with you _ . He focused on the blue towel on Midoriya’s shoulders.  _ He must have taken a shower already. Now act like a normal human being. _

“Good morning.” That’s a nice, normal human being croak there. His voice is thick from sleep so he clears it. “What time is it?”

The ceiling here, too, almost looks as though it could open up to the sky. Sunlight pours into the room behind Midoriya from the large windows, the velvet curtains pulled up. All the light wraps around Midoriya in his sleeping clothes, and Shouto squints at how bright he -  _ it _ was in here.

“It's about quarter till ten.”

Shouto hasn't slept past eight since he was five years old.

“I can make you some coffee or tea while you're in the washroom?” Midoriya offered, already standing from his chair.

“Coffee, please.” He said quietly, because his heart was in his throat. That was his heart, right?  _ Shove it down. _ “Do you mind it if I took a shower?”

“Go ahead, we have plenty of time. There's a new towel on the rack you can have.”

He nodded, turning back to his room to grab a change of clothes and then heading to the washroom to jump into the shower. His uniform was rumpled and would need a wash, and Midoriya probably didn't have a washer and dryer in the tower...right? The water pressure was amazing and went hot enough that even he could feel it. He quickly scrubbed his skin raw, grimacing at the feel of grime in his hair, hurrying so that he could escape the temptation of staying under the shower head longer than he needed to be. The green towel Midoriya had on the rack was fluffy, and he wondered if it was green because of Midoriya or because Shouto was in Slytherin. He’ll have to ask about the school dress code, too. It felt good to be in clean clothes and even better in casual clothing. He towel dried his hair as much as he could without his wand before hanging it and then leaving the bathroom, steam following him out.

Midoriya wasn't in the living room but his towel was hung over one of the chairs. Shouto went to his room for socks and set aside a pair of shoes to wear for the day. He walked back out to the living room and saw another mug on the table, when he reached it he found that it was coffee under a stasis charm. A fancy tray of milk and sugars was there, too, so he sat down and busied himself with his cup. There was a stack of letters on the table along with new Daily Prophet.  _ Midoriya gets his post up here, too - and so do I.  _ Separate from the bigger stack which belonged to Midoriya was a letter from his sister which he ripped open with shaky hands.

 

_ Shouto, _

_ I hope this letter finds you well. Father is absolutely furious, but you were right about him not being able to do anything when aunt Nemuri demanded mother from him. I wish I got to see either of them and you, but things were moving so fast. I have the shop to attend to so I won’t be able to visit mother anytime soon...though part of me is still afraid to, after all of these years. _

_ Please write back soon, and tell me if you need anything. _

 

_ Love, Fuyumi. _

 

“Ah, Todoroki-kun, sorry for keeping you waiting.” Shouto looked up, really looked up, to the ceiling, where Midoriya was calling down from a large hole between the table and the kotatsu.

Hmm.

Midoriya jumped down, landing lightly - the telling flicker of magic ending when his feet touched the wooden boards - and then made his way to the dining table to take a seat across from Shouto.

“What spell is that?” It was such a graceful movement, it had to be magic or his Quirk. And if it wasn’t either of those two then he’ll have to ask Midoriya what his training regiment was because Endeavor never taught him how to land that silently.

Midoriya perked up. “Oh! Well, I was thinking about how you said you used a levitating charm and a cushioning charm when you were falling? I know it was still a pretty heavy crash when we fell from the tree, but y’know, you were still pretty light? That was really good thinking, by the way, most wizards don’t do spells in sequence because sometimes spells can cancel out one another or really drain you the moment you stack them on each other, not to mention the cast time. But charms are easily stackable? Sequenceable? Is that a word? Anyway, I tried out the levitating charm and the cushioning charm at the same time and it’s not exactly flight, but it can kind of make really light? Like bouncy…wait, that’s not the right word. It’s like I weigh less so I can jump easier and slow down my fall, almost floating!”

“That’s...not what happened to me. My fall didn’t slow down.” Shouto said with a frown. He believed Midoriya since he watched him come down a few meters from above. “You said you cast them at the same time? How would the wand movement go?”

“Ah…” Midoriya averted his eyes, tapping his fingers on the table. “I haven’t figured out the wand movement yet. I’m not very good at them.”

Shouto sat back in his chair, a little confused because there were only so many things that could mean. He was very skilled in magic himself, years of training under Endeavor and natural talent made him a proficient wizard in both theory and practice. For Midoriya to be an Auror-in-training but not be very good at wand movement, yet he did Healer spells last night non-verbally? Then there was that weird thing at the courtyard where he didn’t use his wand or a spell? “Midoriya, are you a wandless user?”

“Well, I  _ was _ , but I’m really trying to learn how to use a wand more.” That was the opposite of what people would do and he communicated this with raised eyebrows. Midoriya cleared his throat. “A-anyway, let's talk about today?” Shouto bit his lip, only stopping the onslaught of questions swimming in his mind because Midoriya looked nervous. Later, he’ll ask later for sure. He nodded, bringing his coffee to his lips. Midoriya’s cheeks were pink and he gave Shouto a grateful smile.  _ So he knows.  _ “We’re going to Diagon Alley today for your uniform and textbooks, and then we’ll catch up with the Defense Against the Dark Arts class later in the afternoon. I was thinking we can eat lunch there as well?”

He was going to have to get used to Midoriya breaking every norm, wasn't he? “We’re going that far?”

“Mhm, there's a tailor in Hogsmeade, but we actually get our uniforms from Diagon Alley. You could always share my textbooks, of course, if you don't want to bother with your own, but those will be in Diagon Alley as well.” He explained.

“Will we Floo there?”

“I was thinking of Apparating? Unless you don't like Apparating? I'm sure you know Hogwarts has the anti-apparition ward up, so we’ll be going outside of it. Also, I’m out of Floo powder but if you wanted to Floo I’ll have to ask one of the professors for some. ”

“Apparating is fine. I'm guessing we’re being allowed off of campus unchaperoned because of your situation?”

Midoriya grinned. “That wasn't even a guess, Todoroki-kun.”

“I've got a lot of questions, you know.” Shouto warned him, feeling a little flushed from Midoriya’s echo of the words from last night for no reason.  _ I really want to ask, but you make a face that makes me want to bite my tongue off instead _ .

He laughed a little, again making the troubled expression. “Yes, I know. I promise to give you answers while we’re out, but I want to get going because I have a little errand of my own to run while we’re there.” He stood up, glancing at Fuyumi’s letter by Shouto’s hands. “Oh, right, you saw your post, great! We’ll get post here sometimes if we’re not at the Great Hall for breakfast. Sorry, the owl swooped in when you were in the shower, but I gave her a treat!”

Shouto shrugged. “It's fine, thank you for receiving Yuki, and feeding her.”

“No problem! She was nice. Let me get changed real quick and we’ll get going - it might snow while we're out, you should bundle up!” Midoriya suggested, making his way to his room.

Shouto drained his mug, taking his dishes to the sink to wash and dry it (he had to open nearly all the cupboards to find where the cups and spoons belonged) before going to his own room to grab his wand, a black cloak because bringing up his Quirk to regulate his temperature took energy so he did need to bundle up just a little, and some galleons. He laced up his boots before he stepped out of his room, ready to ask Midoriya about the ceiling, only to falter in his steps.

Did he need to stop walking out of his room to see Midoriya because...this - Merlin, this was ridiculous, right?

It hadn't been five minutes, and the only change was that Midoriya’s eyes were downcast to clasp his cloak of black feathers together, lashes pressing onto his freckles, and he was in a simple green thermal long sleeve, dark jeans, and chunky red sneakers. The cloak was like a shadow settled over his shoulders, nearly long enough to brush the floor and covering him entirely, soft grey inner lining shifting with his movements. And Midoriya - green eyes now on Shouto, standing in the middle of the living room awash with sunlight - smiled, and Shouto felt his heart stutter.

Shouto was not a stranger to beauty. His mother was half-Veela, his siblings and himself were part-Veela, and aunt Nemuri (who he'd seen only once from afar before last night and only called his aunt because she was at least his mother’s good friend) had a Veela mother and a half-Veela father. Even the scar on his left side couldn't hide his bloodline, he was aware. He also knew that from the perspective of someone from his standpoint of beauty, that Midoriya was almost painfully plain, his features simply didn't coincide with society’s standards of beauty, wizarding and quirk mutations taken into account. These were facts, and yet…

“Are you ready to go, Todoroki-kun?”

And yet.

  
  
  


Izuku was in a weird mood that morning. His internal alarm clock woke him up at dawn, the enchanted ceiling barely taking in any light from outside. He felt drained, magical-wise, like he had been in a long wizard’s duel. He must have had a memory during the night.  _ Maybe it was about Todoroki-kun.  _ He got up, accepting that his pillow was a little wet from what may have been his tears from the memory he couldn't recall. That was normal. He went through the usual morning routine of not bothering with his bed head, stretches, and then deciding that he didn't want to run that morning when his mind was hazier than the November mist.

Hmm. That wasn't normal. Last night was a little blurry around the edges, as though…

_ I need to water the plants. But...washroom first, and then tea. _

He made it as far as making the tea and sitting down at the dining table, blue towel wrapped around his hair to dry from a quick shower and tooth brushing, mentally thanking Cementoss for making the plumbing system eternally  _ silencio-ed _ so that it wouldn't bother Todoroki in the next room. He pulled up the curtains with a flick of a wrist and stared out the windows for hours, not really seeing but content with the warmth of the ongoing fireplace, only getting pulled from spacing out when the owl post arrived and he moved to feed it a treat before it flew off to the considerably brighter sky. He gave the letters a glance, plucking the Daily Prophet from the pile when Todoroki came out of his room.

Izuku’s heart rate spiked up a little. Todoroki was still in his Durmstrang uniform, wrinkly from the night. His hair was mussed up where red strands sifted into white, ends flying away from his face. Todoroki’s sleepy “Good morning” was playing over and over in Izuku’s head even when Todoroki rushed back to the washroom for a shower. A snowy owl swooped into the room while Todoroki was in there, offering a leg with a letter for Todoroki, hooted softly when Izuku gave her a treat and a thank you, and then flew out. He set it on the table, quickly making good on his promise of coffee for Todoroki and setting it in front of the other seat along with the sugar and milk tray. He waved his hand over it, casting a stasis charm. He watered the plants in the garden above the room. It was a secret to the students and Izuku’s project.

_ Ah, but Todoroki-kun might have to know about it now.  _ He wondered how long it would take until his new roommate’s curiosity would overflow. He’s familiar with the expression on someone’s face whenever Izuku’s around - it’s the expression of undying curiosity which he owns and sees on his friends. Todoroki wears the expression in his eyes, burning away at Izuku from the dining table as he touched down from the ceiling. Izuku was a pro at keeping secrets (not the best liar, though), he was a vessel of secrets (HA), but being around Todoroki makes him feel a little weak to the secret keeping, and he can’t help but feel guilty for not answering all of his questions.

Izuku dressed in green. While he did have the clearance to leave the school every now and then, it was hardly times when he could dress casually. The cloak was something that wrapped around him since he arrived, though its properties were unknown except for the fact that it was made of clean raven feathers and that it automatically adjusted to a good temperature whenever it was wrapped around Izuku. He had other cloaks, but this one was his favourite and it had grown to his size over the years. He tried to wear it whenever the situation fit. The situation now was that he had to walk around Diagon Alley next to the most beautiful person in the wizarding world (only a slight exaggeration) and the raven cloak made him feel a little better about his own plain features.

“Are you ready to go, Todoroki-kun?” He resisted the urge to place a hand over his wildly beating heart, even if the action would have been hidden under his cloak.

Todoroki nodded.

Izuku turned towards the windows. “There are classes going on right now, and while we can take the long way around the castle to remain unseen, I’d rather just take this way since it’s faster.” He cast a vanishing charm on the stained glass window, the wind immediately coming into the room.

Todoroki stepped towards the nook and looked over the edge before turning back. “What floor are we on?”

“Seventh.” Izuku chirped, grinning at Todoroki’s flat look. “Okay, don’t look at me like that, I didn’t say we’d  _ jump _ out. I could bring us down with my Quirk, but I’d have to carry you, and you don’t look like you’re up for that either. No, um,  _ accio _ .” he flung his arm towards the living room. The coat closet opened and a broomstick flew to his palm. Todoroki eyed it warily. “Er, you can fly us to the end of the anti-apparition ward, if that’ll make you feel better.” While just the thought of having to hold onto Todoroki had him sweating, Todoroki was also a well-known Seeker, so it would make sense if he was more comfortable piloting.

But Todoroki shook his head. “No, you know the grounds and it’s your broom so…”

And maybe it was worst that way because there was only so much space on a broomstick and while Todoroki didn’t hold onto Izuku (thank Merlin he held onto the broom), Izuku was still very aware of how close he was as they flew out of the tower. He tried not letting his nervousness show, focusing on flying above the trees and out of sight of any classroom windows, using the wind as to not jostle their flight path. It was chillier being so high up, but the sun was bright and dodging the clouds, making for a good day for flying.

“It’s a good day for flying.” Todoroki commented, leaning a little to be heard.

_ Don’t freak out don’t freak out don’t freak out dammit I’m freaking out I was Literally just -  _ “I-it really is!” Izuku replied, a pitch higher than intended, praying that Todoroki would just take his tone for calling against the wind. Thankfully, the rest of the way to the school gates went without a hitch. He brought them down smoothly once past the statues of the winged boars, going through the wards which recognized him. He let Todoroki off before dismounting, shrinking the broomstick and putting it in his inner cloak pocket, turning to Todoroki and offering his arm. “Side-along?”

Todoroki adjusted his cloak, stepping forward and slipping a hand on Izuku’s elbow. “Ready.”

Izuku inwardly cursed at how warm his neck had gotten, and quickly focused on their intended location, Apparating out of Hogwarts with a barely there crack and landing with a slight sway in Diagon Alley’s Apparition point. Some people looked at their arrival with only a glance, though there were a few walking by who did a doubletake when they saw Todoroki, who was surveying their surroundings  _ and not letting go of my elbow just set me on fire.  _ “Have you been here before?”

“No, this is my first time.” He dropped his hand to his side, beneath his cloak, and Izuku tried not to miss it.

“We have time to look around. Did you want to do the shopping first or are you hungry?”

“I kind of want to get the shopping out of the way, if that was alright. You said you have an errand to run, as well, didn’t you?”

Izuku nodded, starting to walk down the cobblestone path and out of the small alley to the main district. Todoroki kept up with him though he wasn’t always looking where they were going, eyes on shop windows and products spilling from the doors, barrels and cauldrons and books lined down the streets. “We’ll go to Madam Malkin’s first since the uniform fitting will take some time to do.”

“Ah, that works for me.” Todoroki stepped closer to him as two wizards rushed past. “Will you go do your errands then?”

“I’d rather stay together just in case your fitting doesn’t take as long as I would getting my things done.” Izuku opened the door to Madam Malkin’s Robes For All Occasions, letting Todoroki go in first. They were immediately greeted by a woman in her forties, too young to be Madam Malkin’s herself, but Izuku guessed they were related.

“Welcome to Madam Malkin’s!” She said with a kind smile, British accent heavily mixed with something else. “What brings you two gentlemen in today?”

Izuku tipped his head slightly. “Hello, we’re here to get him a set of school robes.” He saw Todoroki start next to him.

“Oh, yes, of course. Come over, dear, what House are you in?” She ushered Todoroki past racks of clothes ranging from dress robes and dress _ ier _ robes. Izuku followed them to an elevated platform further into the store, hearing Todoroki respond Slytherin. “If you’re waiting, dear, then you can take a seat over there.”

“Thank you.” Izuku sat just a few feet away, watching as the woman asked Todoroki to take off his cloak (which he then offered to hold). She took out her wand to conjure a measuring tape from thin air to record Todoroki’s numbers before saying she had to go to the back to adjust the size but would be back shortly.

“Midoriya.”

“Yes?”

“Was that woman Japanese?”

“No? Oh - that’s me.” Izuku said. “I have a translator spell around me. It lets me understand the languages around me and then lets other people around me understand what I’m saying back!”

“I’ve never heard of that spell before - don’t tell me this is another one where you don’t know the wand movement?” Todoroki crossed his arms, staring Izuku down.

He gulped. “Ah, I’m...working on it?”

The woman came back, calling for the boys to come to the register. “All set! School robes and Slytherin scarf and tie. All I need now is your name?”

“Todoroki Shouto.” He pulled out a few galleons from his pocket. “How much -”

“Your things are already paid for by your sister, dear. An owl dropped by this morning to pay for everything - actually, here’s your change!” She dropped knuts and sickles into his palm, handing him his uniform in a bag. “Thank you for coming in!”

“That was nice of your sister.” Izuku commented as they made their way down the street.

Todoroki nodded, looking at his bag thoughtfully. “Where to next?”

“I need to drop by the apothecary and the tea shop. Did you want to buy textbooks? I haven’t really been using mine so you could just borrow them, if you’d like. And did you need to stock up on anything like school supplies or anything?”

Todoroki accepted his offer for the textbooks this time but didn’t need anything else, and that made it so Izuku led them down the streets of Diagon Alley only looking through windows for goods, occasionally pausing as Todoroki considered some stores though ultimately deciding against entering them at all. Izuku quickly bought Floo Powder and a few potions ingredients at the apothecary, Todoroki asking if they could brew in their rooms.

“Yes, just don’t blow up the tower, please.” Izuku joked, nearly running over a cat as they passed the Magical Menagerie when Todoroki snorted and smiled a little. Izuku picked up the special brew of the month at the tea shop and restocked on jasmine. “Did you have a preference on tea, Todoroki-kun…” Todoroki was being helped by a shop assistant who was pouring little sample cups.

It was the monthly limited brew that Izuku had already picked up, simply named ‘November’. The assistant handed him and Todoroki a cup. It smelled oddly spicy and floral at the same time, but tasted pretty good, and Todoroki was looking really Japanese right then with the small plastic sample cup between his fingers. It made him look both elegant and ridiculous so Izuku bought another tin of the tea so they could leaf -  _ leave. _ They walked a little aimlessly before Todoroki mentioned lunch, bringing them to step into a bistro across the Gringotts Wizarding Bank. It was almost uncomfortably warm inside, a little after lunchtime on a Monday, so it wasn’t very busy as was the rest of Diagon Alley, which made ordering sandwiches, soup, and drinks go quickly. They claimed a corner table by the windows looking out into the street.

The moment they sat down with their things, Todoroki pulled out his wand and cast a non-verbal  _ muffliato _ and said, “I've never met an Unspeakable before.”

Izuku had already been nonplussed by Todoroki’s quick cast, but the shock of Todoroki’s claim made him gape. He swallowed, fingers gripped around his glass of orange juice. “What - what makes you say that?”

“All spellcrafters are. It would explain what ever research you're doing, why you're trying to figure out wand movements for spells that don't exist, and probably why Hogwarts’ staff had been steadily bringing in more active Auror professors over the years, for your protection, probably.” He unclasped his cloak and draped it behind him on his chair.

Izuku sighed, dropped his head into his palms and groaned. “I should have known I’d give myself away with somebody living with me.”  _ Especially a prodigy like Todoroki-kun. _

“Are you...going to  _ obliviate  _ me?” Todoroki asked quietly.

Izuku looked up quickly. “What - no! I mean, I'll have to report this to the Aurors, but you won't be  _ obliviated,  _ Todoroki-kun! I'm sure the Headmaster had taken it into account when he assigned you as my roommate but also I should have taken into account that you'd naturally figure it out on your own.” He babbled. “I'll have to ask you to keep it a secret, of course.”

Todoroki nodded and looked relieved. “Of course.” He took a bite of his sandwich, and Izuku tried to find calm in drinking his tomato soup. And he did, because Todoroki was almost ethereal while eating a whole wheat bread, Black Forest ham, tomato, and lettuce sandwich. It was distracting in a good way, and kind of funny and frustrating because he was looking unfairly winsome in just a simple black button down and dark pants. The bistro didn't have music playing, but the low voices of its customers and the tinkling of the bells when the door opened created a nice atmosphere along with the enchanted flowers which were scattered over the walls and partitions.

Izuku was halfway through his sandwich when he remembered that his soulmate sat across from him, who was sipping iced coffee from a plastic straw and had a breadcrumb on his cheek. 

He wondered how he could forget.

  
  
  


Shouto wondered if Midoriya didn’t like his sandwich.

He had seen the boy glaring at his sandwich for a good two minutes as though he were trying to figure out if the chicken, avocado, and tomato combination had been worth it. He almost asked if it tasted funny, but the moment passed and Midoriya went back to eating it.  _ Maybe he was thinking of spellcrafting?  _ Midoriya’s eyes flickered up to Shouto’s face, pinning him to his seat. He had stopped eating again and Shouto couldn’t move because it looked like Midoriya was looking for something...on his face? It gave him the chance to stare back, to find that Midoriya had smaller, lighter freckles that ran abridge his cheeks and nose, and disappeared below the collar of his raven cloak.

“Is there something on my face?” He inwardly cringed at his flat tone and choice of words - of course there was something on his face, it covered half of it, goddamnit.

Midoriya jumped in his seat, blinking rapidly as though he were in a daze, “Um, what, no? I!? I'm sorry, I was staring, wasn't I?” His face burned red up to the tips of his ears, bright against the dark curls. “I’ve never been this close to someone part-Veela before, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare because you're pretty? Or I guess I wanted to stare - wait, that's weird, but I should have...asked...permission…?” His hands gripped his sandwich dangerously tight.

“It's alright,” Shouto said. His heartbeat was erratic and he felt too warm. “You have my aun - you have Midnight as a professor, don't you?”

“Honestly, I'm afraid to make eye contact with her.” Midoriya said with a sigh.

_ But you're not afraid of me?  _ He tried not to think about the feelings he got about that. “Midoriya, what made you want to become a spellcrafter?”

Midoriya took a sip of his orange juice, taking a moment to look out the window. “I guess at first I didn't.” He confessed. “I wanted to be a Hero first, and that's still what I want to be, for myself, and for my soul mate so that I could protect them when we met, and of course, for the people who also need protecting. When I found out that I had magic and how the wizarding world is in, gods,  _ shambles  _ \- because it never fully recovered after the wars, I decided I wanted to be an Auror, as well. I'm learning Healing for the people around me. I'm a spellcrafter because I have the capability, and to be idle with a gift that can help people is to be someone at fault.”

“You can't save everyone.” Shouto’s heart thrummed in his ears and he was staring at the boy across from him because he was amazing. He had goals that would benefit the future of two worlds, and the reasoning was selfless, unlike Shouto’s own vendetta.

Midoriya’s green eyes went back to him and he smiled. “I can try.”

Shouto believed he would.

“Want me to shrink down our bags so I can keep it in my pocket?” Midoriya asked when their sandwiches were done and most of their soups were gone.

Shouto handed him his bag with his school robes. “Thank you.”

Midoriya flicked his wrist over their bags, shrinking them and tucking them into an inner pocket of his cloak. “No problem -” Shouto watched, amazed, as Midoriya cut off, eyes narrowed behind him. He knew just from the sudden lull of conversation in the bistro but tensed anyway. “Todoroki-kun,”

There was a shout and screams from the front of the store and Shouto turned in his seat to see four wizards with their wands drawn and pointed at all corners of the restaurant, hoods of their cloaks up and masks covering most of their faces. “Everybody stay where you are!” One of them barked as the one closest to the register fired a disarming spell at the two employees. “Nobody try anything and nobody gets hurt!”

Four. He can't handle four by himself, not practically Quirkless in Diagon Alley, and not with so many people in the store. He’d probably be able to get three with dueling, but...

“Todoroki-kun,” Midoriya said again, keeping his voice low. Shouto glanced at him from the corner of his eye, taking in Midoriya’s expression. It was almost frighteningly cool and determined. “Can you lend me a hand?”

The man who had disarmed the employees had moved to the register, demanding the money from their drawers, his companions beginning to spread themselves across the store, backs to each other.

“We’ll have to be quick.” Shouto gripped his wand, keeping his eyes forward. He had no idea what Midoriya could do or would do, didn’t know his Quirk or the depth of his combative spell arsenal, but he knew that only people who’ve gone through battle could make the face Midoriya had on him.

“I don't know if I can get you out of trouble for using your Quirk without a license, but it's active if you need to use it,” Midoriya muttered quickly. “I’ll start with the angry one at the register, please cover me. Let’s go.” And Midoriya  _ literally sparked to life _ . Shouto heard a high piercing sound as he watched Midoriya probably activate his Quirk, becoming live lightning before the boy jumped up from his seat, and flew across the bistro to punch the man yelling at the employees in the face.

Shouto waved a shield charm Midoriya’s way just in time for three different hexes to bounce off of it, and then disarmed the closest one to Midoriya.

“Thanks, Todoroki-kun!” Midoriya threw him a grin in the middle of combat.  _ Focus.  _ He went low for a moment before he brought his leg up in a high sweeping arch, connecting with the disarmed wizard’s temple and sent him crashing into a table. Shouto exchanged jinxes with the last two, knocking one back and giving Midoriya the chance to flip him over his waist and onto the one who had been thrown onto the table. The last one tried to run while Midoriya was mid-action, throwing curses towards both the raven cloaked boy and Shouto. Shouto gritted his teeth as he simultaneously cast a stronger shield charm towards Midoriya, ducked and rolled out of the way for the incoming curse for him - it shattered the store window behind him instead. He reached for his Quirk - the power of it rattled his bones as he sent a too powerful blast of ice when he put his weight on his right leg, freezing the storefront and the masked wizard.

“Oh,  _ wow _ .” He heard Midoriya murmur a little breathlessly, eyes wide as he straightened up from his combative stance.  _ Was he even winded from that fight? _

His next exhale was a puff of mist. He closed his eyes briefly and began to regulate his temperature from the cold. It was supposed to be impossible but...he was sure that Quirk was fully activatable at that moment. “Sorry. I didn't expect my Quirk to work that well here.”

Midoriya nodded. “I know.” He turned to the store occupants and raised his voice over their muttering, “Is anyone hurt?” There was none, except for the burglars. Midoriya took out his wand (probably for the first time that day) and conjured ropes to bind them. “Todoroki-kun? I'm going to need help with this ice.”

He put his left hand on the wall, melting just enough so that the masked wizard was still encased, but the door was accessible. It was explicable for his Quirk to be so strong, so  _ wild  _ here. Diagon Alley had strong ley lines, which was a good reason as to why Gringotts was just across the street - it was why it was impregnable, because the goblins’ and Ministry security magic would be at peak performance. Shouto shouldn’t have the control and capacity to burn or freeze the town down, but here he was (not doing that).

_ It’s Midoriya. Did he figure out a way to enhance Quirks in a magical area? Is it his Quirk? Does it have a range or is it by what ley line intersection he’s on? Is it a spell?  _ Magic theory was difficult on its own, but the research of Quirks also led to roadblocks on the wizarding side, as Quirks were physical science.

Two men in Auror robes entered the bistro, immediately taking in the scene and eyeing the bound wizards, the frozen wizard, and the two young wizards. One of them stepped around the ice and spoke with Midoriya in hushed tones before moving past the boy to speak with the employees.

Shouto made his way next to Midoriya, who was approached by the second Auror who didn't seem as friendly as the other one.

“You shouldn't have had acted on your own again, kid.” The man said gruffly.

“I had backup.” Midoriya replied with a closed mouth smile that made Shouto a little wary of how deceitfully relaxed he seemed. “I was in here when they came in, so I did what I could.”

The Auror scoffed, rounding on Shouto. “Your backup is another kid? Shouldn't you two be in class?”

Shouto glared back.

“We have permission from Headmaster Nedzu to be in Diagon Alley alley today. I have the proper licenses to act upon chaos in the public.”

“You do. Does he?”

Midoriya’s mouth widened into a smirk. Shouto’s heart cowered and cheered at the same time, something he didn't think was possible.  _ Oh, he has a bad side. _

The first Auror came up behind them. “Kipley, can you stop being a wanker, for Merlin’s sake? If it weren't for these two then these guys would have gotten away long before we got here.”

Kipley glared at all of them before he grumbled and walked away.

“Sorry about that, you two. It’s been hectic at the office all week so we’re all a little stressed.”

Midoriya shook his head, looking slightly sheepish. “It’s fine, Auror Kelsey, I know some people don’t like being around me.”

Kelsey clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, you do manage to be in the thick of things more than the average Auror. Besides that...well, we can’t really write up an Unspeakable.” he whispered. “Thanks again, kids.” he waved goodbye, leaving to help his partner take out the wizards.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Shouto said automatically. Though he hadn’t checked, he was pretty sure that he had dodged everything and he hadn’t been up close like Midoriya had been.

Midoriya, who scoffed. “Right. Come on, let me heal that.” He pointed to a long cut on Shouto’s left forearm, ruining his shirt.

Or maybe he hadn’t dodged everything. They went back to their table, glass crunching beneath their shoes as the rest of the bistro occupants shuffled about, some with wands to fix the chairs and tables and broken plates. Shouto sat down and held up his arm, watching Midoriya lean closer to clean and heal the skin. “I didn’t even notice.” He wondered if it went through the connection. Shouto probably hadn't noticed it due to the adrenaline so he hoped that his soul mate didn't feel too much pain this time.  _ I'm sorry. _

“I thought so, but I also think you would have said that you were fine even if you were bleeding out.” Midoriya mused, though his brows were slightly drawn together.  _ From concentrating on healing, not worrying.  _ “At least this time it was just a scratch from a hex, and the glass didn’t get you when the window broke.” The wound closed up nicely and wouldn’t leave a scar, which Shouto was thankful for because he already had enough of those. Midoriya began a mending charm on his shirt, this time muttering the spell under his breath. “Thank you for backing me up, I don’t think I would have been able to bring them down on my own without a civilian getting hurt.”

“Anytime.” And he meant it, especially when Midoriya laughed, freckles hiding under pink cheeks of mirth. Shouto felt the corner of his mouth lift, and he almost laughed, too, because Midoriya took a longer time mending his shirt than he did healing.

“I’ll hold you to that when I have to!”

_ Good, _ Shouto thought with sudden ardor as the rest of the words came to mind,  _ I want to fight by your side again. I want to protect you.  _ It was ridiculous to be in that standpoint when he was sure from Midoriya’s movements just five minutes ago that he didn’t really need his protection. He could deduce that Midoriya didn’t use magic in the fight because the boy had a knack for using it wandless and non-verbally, which was unusual in wizarding Europe. By unusual, meaning kind of feared by the populace if used expertly. That only led him to think about how stupid they would be to be terrified of someone like Midoriya, who had a thousand and one freckles and laughter that felt like a cup of tea called November.

“Ah! We should get going, Todoroki-kun, we wouldn’t want to be late for Aizawa-sensei’s class.” Midoriya said, looking at a pocket watch from his cloak. He gave Shouto a penitent smile, “I’m sorry today isn’t going very well.”

In the sunny bistro corner of Diagon Alley, surrounded by broken glass on the floor from a window shattering due to a curse being tossed at his head, Shouto thought that so far he was having a pretty good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to have So Many More things in it but the word count kept going up so now we have the next day in two chapters! There will be some familiar faces in the next chapter! 
> 
> I hope you all liked this one - I'm having a really good time!   
> Feel free to comment! Also, I have a twitter that I don't know what to really do with! @empress_matcha


	3. Todoroki-kun, nobody says Pocket Monster!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, now…None of us,” Kirishima made a spinning motion with a finger. “Even know where Midoriya goes to sleep at night. Am I the only one who thinks about what sort of bedsheets he has?” He raised his brows. “I don't think so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A "light" chapter. The kids are here, there's a little fluff, a little laughter.

The drawback of Todoroki’s Quirk had Izuku’s teeth chattering from the chill through the connection alone. He felt the frost lay in his bones as it would atop stone, and the warmth that followed was borderline pleasant and nearly painful. The sudden contrast in temperature brought attention to the cut fading away on his forearm, momentarily stinging him. He almost rolled his eyes at Todoroki who had not even noticed it on his own body. He healed the cut and mended the tear in the shirt (which took longer than he thought it would), careful not to touch Todoroki’s skin in case he healed him the other way. 

Todoroki repaired the bistro window after they stepped over it to leave. They were lined up to use the public Floo back to Hogwarts when he said, “All Might told me to use the Floo to reach him, but I ended up falling from the sky instead.” 

Izuku took out the bag of Floo powder from his cloak. “Hogwarts Floo lines are usually closed - maybe it tried to kick you out?” 

“I wasn't trying to Floo to Hogwarts.” He said. “He told me to say ‘All Might’ to the fireplace.” 

_ Oh.  _ “That's -” the guilt was immediate. “That's my spell,” Izuku admitted, trying not to cry. “Whoever is on All Might’s list of allowed people can Floo directly to his uh magical signature. It must have cut short.” He thought to how Todoroki had fallen into the courtyard instead. Onto Izuku. 

“Is that one of yours?” 

Izuku tried to laugh naturally to dislodge the mounting grief in his chest. “Yeah. I guess...It’s the only time I could connect the Floo and a person so...I guess it still needs some work.” 

Beside him, Todoroki placed a hand to his chest, brow furrowing.  _ Can he feel that? Damn _ . “Still, it's worked pretty well, and nobody else has achieved something like it, as far as I know.” 

_ No,  _ Izuku took a deep breath as he threw powder into the hearth, flames turning emerald, he muttered, “Raven Tower.” 

_ It worked perfectly.  _

They stepped out from the embers of Izuku’s -  _ their  _ living room. Izuku closed the Floo connection behind them and they both made their way to their rooms. He had pulled a grey sweater over his head when Todoroki knocked on his door. “Yes?” 

“Midoriya...I don’t know the dress code.” 

“Oh!” Izuku pushed through the sleeves before opening the door, gripping the frame when it revealed Todoroki looking embarrassed? “I’m sorry, I totally forgot to tell you!” He went over the requirements - slacks or jeans, dark sweaters and shirts with collars were good, always have your House colours on you whether it be in tie or scarf or school cloak form, anything pretty much goes as long as was Potions lab safe. He paused, remembering their bags from the day and unshrinking their items, handing over Todoroki’s bag as the boy exited his room. Izuku put on his school robes and wrapped his Ravenclaw scarf around his neck, immediately missing the weight of his feather cloak, but he couldn't wear it on school grounds - it made the castle ghosts uneasy for some reason. 

Todoroki was changed into his uniform just a minute after Izuku went into the living room - he had wanted to write the day’s events into his journal but thankfully thought of the possibility of Todoroki being a faster changer. They made their way down the tower, this time taking the more public hallways where some students were out of classes already or walking to their last lectures of the day. Izuku led them to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, opening the door and poking his head in with a “Sorry we’re late!”

The classroom of fifth year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were scattered around the room, most with wands drawn, attention from what they were doing on Izuku and Todoroki. 

“You made it.” Aizawa’s muffled voice came from somewhere behind the desk at the front of the classroom, nearly drowned out by the excitement of both Houses at Izuku’s arrival. 

“Oh, man, I didn't know Midoriya would be here!” 

“Wait, that's not fair - we have to change the groups if he's here…” 

“This is in  _ the bag, you guys are so going down!” _

_ “Fucking Deku what are you doing here!” _

Izuku held up his hands with a nervous chuckle. He felt a little bad for making everyone feel uneasy. “I'm not? I don't think I'm participating in class?” He smiled and waved at Uraraka nearby.

Aizawa stood up from the floor. “You and Todoroki can and should. They were practicing Disarming Charms in two teams, but practice on someone like you will do them some good.” He turned to the classroom, “Everyone form a line and try to Disarm Midoriya.” 

Both Houses groaned, the complaints immediate. 

“Professor, that's impossible!” 

“Can't we at least try in pairs?!” 

Todoroki muttered, “What the hell?” 

Izuku laughed, remembering  _ Todoroki is new. He doesn't know yet how everyone reacts to me. _

_ “Don't fucking laugh, Deku! I'll kill you!”  _ Bakugou growled. 

Izuku bit his lip to stop laughing but threw a smirk over. “Okay, Kacchan.”

“Merlin, is this graded?!” Someone cried fearfully.

“It will be if you guys don't pipe down  _ and get in a line so we can get everyone to try. _ ” Aizawa said sternly. The class got into a hasty, terrible line on one end of the classroom (opposite from Izuku and Todoroki) but a line nonetheless. “That took you guys too long. Midoriya, Disarming or Shield Charms - with your wand.” 

Izuku took out his wand from his sleeve, glancing at Todoroki (he went to stand by Aizawa to the front of the room) as the first Hufflepuff came up.  _ Pull your punches, Izuku.  _

 

What the hell? Shouto must have said that out loud because Midoriya started laughing.  _ Is everyone afraid of him? Or is he really popular? Both?  _ The glint in his eyes were challenging when a boy with spiky blonde hair and a Gryffindor tie yelled something about killing a laughing Deku. There were about fifty students in the room, half from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff respectively.

The exercise was a joke. It was just simple Disarming, deflecting, and protecting - a far cry from the bistro fight - but Midoriya was not one to be Disarmed easily, even though he never made the first move. To begin with, most of the students had given up before it was even their turn to try, those who tried had the expression of already knowing they would be beat, and the ones who did try at all were just a handful who seemed to be a little bit on more friendly terms with the green haired boy. They stood out just slightly when they would be hooted at by their classmates in line. 

A bright, brown-haired girl from Hufflepuff came up looking determined to try, grinning at Midoriya. “Don't go easy on me, Deku-kun!”

_ Deku? _ “Wouldn't dream of it, Uraraka-san!”

His wand movement for the non-verbal  _ expillarmus  _ began after she said it out loud, but his spell was faster and a  _ protego _ followed to block hers as he caught her wand in his hand. 

She pouted but smiled as she took her wand back. “Well, that was expected of you.” 

The end of the line drew near until the angry looking Gryffindor -(Kacchan, he had heard Midoriya say, but...no) -stood across from Midoriya. His wand movement was precise and forceful, non-verbal except for the “Die!” that he shouted as he sent the first  _ expillarmus.  _

_ Die?  _

Midoriya deflected, returning it - which the Gryffindor blocked, earning some cheers from the students. It was the first successful Shield charm against Midoriya during the exercise. The corner of Midoriya’s mouth twitched upwards as he met the blonde’s incoming Disarming charm with his own. 

“Are you fucking playing around, Deku?!” The boy snarled.

Midoriya cast a strong enough Shield that it bounced the furious boy’s Disarming charm right back, then quickly cast another to take his wand. 

“For fuck’s sake -” 

“Language, Bakugou.” Aizawa droned under the congratulations from the other students at the Gryffindor who held out the longest. “Good job.”

Bakugou snatched his wand back from Midoriya, red eyes narrowed. “Were you going easy on me, nerd?” 

“Don't be silly, Kacchan, I know better.” 

“Good.”

Aizawa allowed the last four students to try Disarming Midoriya as a group, two Gryffindors and two Hufflepuffs.

“You better kill him, Kirishima! Kaminari!” Bakugou threatened.

“Whoa, man, that's a lot of pressure.” The red haired Gryffindor grumbled.

“Go, Mina!” Uraraka cheered. 

Midoriya won, taking less time with them than he had with Bakugou. He looked apologetic as he gave them back their wands, until his eyes met Shouto’s. “Ready, Todoroki-kun?” 

Shouto was already walking to the opposite side of Midoriya even as the class began murmuring amongst themselves. 

“Todoroki? Isn't he from Durmstrang?” 

“He's their Seeker, right? What is he doing here?” 

“His dad is Endeavor -” 

“I heard he was really strong -” 

He tuned them out after the mention of his father, twirling his wand in his fingers once and poking at the magic thrumming his veins.  _ Is he going to wait for me to attack first like he did with everyone else?  _ Midoriya stood with his wand at the ready, green orbs calculating.  _ Probably not.  _ Shouto allowed himself an exhale before bringing his wand up in front of his face, at the ready. 

Midoriya struck first,  _ expillarmus  _ ricocheting off of Shouto’s Shield charm. Shouto widened his stance, throwing a charm, strengthening his  _ protego  _ before going more offensive. Midoriya's Shields didn't last as long against Shouto’s Disarming charms, but didn't let it slow him down either, deflecting some of them before they hit. Shouto managed to catch an  _ expillarmus  _ to redirect it, but Midoriya had rapid fire spell casting and cast another after it as Shouto threw it back. 

Their wands fly off of their hands and to the other’s feet, Midoriya’s eyes wide.

“ _ Bro _ .” Kirishima? Kaminari? Shouto wasn't sure - broke the momentary pause afterwards.

“ _ Deku -”  _

“Todoroki’s a beast, oh Merlin -” 

“Wait does that count? He got Disarmed -” 

Shouto bent down to pick up Midoriya’s wand. It was warm and humming in his palm. Oh, his wand - he opened his mouth, ready to shout as Midoriya - “Wait, don't -” plucked his wand from the floor, looking it over before walking towards him.  _ What.  _

“Here you go, Todoroki-kun! It doesn't look damaged.”  _ It must be, if you're holding it. _

They returned wands to each other and Aizawa dismissed the class. 

Midoriya, and therefore Shouto, were flocked immediately. 

“Deku-kun, are you eating at the Great Hall today?” The Hufflepuff girl, Uraraka? asked. 

The red haired Gryffindor clapped Midoriya on the shoulder. “We haven't seen you in a while, bro! We were starting to get worried!” 

“You don't need to fucking worry about Deku, you idiot.” Bakugou snapped. 

Midoriya grinned. “You have so much faith in me, Kacchan.” 

“Shut up, Deku! That's not it!”

“Did you mind eating at the Great Hall tonight, Todoroki-kun?” 

Shouto did not mind, and found his arm pressed against Midoriya’s as they were herded out of the classroom and through the castle. He couldn't follow the multiple conversations that the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors toss at Midoriya (and himself, as well, maybe) so he remained silent and tried to count the turns that it took them to make it to the Great Hall. He lost count quickly as his mind had tried to latch onto Midoriya speaking. 

The Great Hall had four long tables below an enchanted ceiling of a starry sky. There was chatter amongst students scattered between tables not always under their House banners. It was most colourful where Shouto ended up sitting with Midoriya - there were shouts of Midoriya’s name as students from every table converged to where they were, so Shouto was a little bit surprised when he heard someone call  _ his  _ name instead. 

“Todoroki-san?” 

A little startled, he was met by a familiar face. “Yaoyorozu.” Oh - right, he knew someone here. “Hello.” He would have stood to greet her but they were both sitting across from one another, so he tipped his head towards her. 

Yaoyorozu gracefully returned it. “What - I, yes, how do you do? What are you…you're in Slytherin House.” She quickly registered the colours on his tie, looking bewildered. 

“You two know each other?” Midoriya asked, and the crowd turned their eyes to the three of them. 

Shouto felt the heat of the shared spotlight that had been mostly on Midoriya for the past ten minutes. “Yes.” 

“How so?” A girl in a Slytherin tie questioned. “From Beauxbatons, perhaps?”

He and Yaoyorozu shared a very uncomfortable look, something done over tables for many years now. “Our families know each other.” Maybe she didn't tell anyone? 

Yaoyorozu’s dark eyes fluttered in relief before she offered the table a smile. “We’ve known each other since we were children.”  _ That would be a no _ .

The spotlight dimmed as Midoriya brightened and Shouto didn't know if that was any better. “That’s great! I'm glad you have a friend here, Todoroki-kun.” 

“Yeah, better to have Yaomomo as a childhood friend than having Baku-blast over here.” A Slytherin boy quipped. 

“What's that supposed to fucking mean, soy sauce face?!” 

The crowd is led by Yaoyorozu in giving their names (thank Merlin), all in the hero course club as well as being eligible for the Hero course of UA - this being made possible under a special project led by the Headmaster. It was a lot to take in. Even Yaoyorozu, who he had known for many years to eagerly share information to strengthen the bridge of understanding, said, “Midoriya-san is the best person to ask about it all.” 

“Now that Midoriya’s here we can have a club meeting!” The other blonde Gryffindor, Kaminari, cheered, earning whoops all around.

Midoriya looked apologetic. “Not today, though. Maybe next week? I promised the Prefects that I would help with putting up the Christmas decorations.” 

There were offers to help from mostly everyone. 

“It's after curfew so you can't, you guys,” Yaoyorozu said sadly. “But I appreciate the thought!” 

Heaping plates of food appeared on the length of the table. The choices were...diverse, and a little overwhelming, if Shouto had to be honest. In Durmstrang, the main dish was meat and soups and scallops, for lunch it was bread and greens and stew. There were soups here, too - tomato, minestrone, pho, and ramen, and maybe he could smell stew from down the table but he wasn't sure. There was turkey and steak and dumplings and chow mein. 

“So, you're Todoroki Shouto from Durmstrang, right? The Seeker?” Sero leaned towards him. “You should tryout for the Quidditch team! We'd love to see you fly, man!” 

_ If there's going to be this much food every night then I'm going to need to do a sport anyway. _

“Try-outs were in September.” Ojiro pointed out.

“We can always ask Amajiki-senpai if he'd allow it!” 

Shouto helped himself to a scoop of mashed potatoes before passing it to Yaoyorozu in exchange for the turkey.

“Why did you transfer in so late in the year?” Hagakure asked. 

He really didn't know how to answer that even if he wanted to. He absolutely did not want to share, except for maybe with Yaoyorozu as it sort of affected them both. Was he allowed to answer, actually? 

And there was Unspeakable Midoriya, who spoke up, “He’s my new roommate.” 

“You get to be his roommate?!” 

“Wow, lucky!” 

“Who did have you kill to be Midoriya’s roommate!”

“I'm mad jealous, bro.” 

“Why are you jealous of him being Deku’s roommate?!” 

“Hey, now…None of us,” Kirishima made a spinning motion with a finger. “Even know where Midoriya goes to sleep at night. Am I the only one who thinks about what sort of bedsheets he has?” He raised his brows. “I don't think so.”

“Why don't you just ask?” Ashido suggested. “Midoriya, what sort of bedsheets do you have?”

_ Pikachu.  _ Midoriya looked amused. “I think if I didn't know that you guys have been wondering then I would have told you...but I think I'll keep it to myself for now.” 

“What are you doing in Ravenclaw with that attitude?” A voice intoned behind Shouto and Midoriya. A Ravenclaw boy with lavender hair sat down between Midoriya and Tokoyami. 

“Last time I checked I was beating you and Yaoyorozu in rankings.” 

_ Merlin, was today the day that he was going to see Yaoyorozu throw something?  _ The girl glared at her peas instead while someone choked into their goblet to Shouto’s left. 

“Get  _ roasted _ , Shinsou!” Kaminari snickered. 

“Hey! Yaoyorozu got roasted, too!” Jirou snipped. 

“Oh, shit, sorry, Yaomomo! That's not nice, Midoriya!” 

“I've been  _ telling _ you all that Deku’s an asshole!” Bakugou scoffed. 

Uraraka rolled her eyes. “Are you going to tell us that it takes one to know one?”

“You fucking know what, angel face?!”

“Are you going to tell me something!?”

“Bakugou-san, you're a  _ Prefect _ ,” Yaoyorozu hissed, dark eyes flashing. “Please don't fight.” 

Uraraka gave a sheepish smile and Bakugou’s scowl remained. 

Shouto looked up from his (very nice) turkey. “Oh, congratulations, by the way. You mentioned being Prefect, too, didn't you?” He picked up his own goblet, wondering where everyone had gotten their drinks. 

Yaoyorozu’s cheeks turned slightly pink. “Yes, thank you, Todoroki-san.” 

Midoriya’s shoulder nudged him as he peered into Shouto’s face and the empty goblet in his hand. “Enchanted to fill with what you want.” He said simply, smiling before his attention was called for by Asui. 

Shouto blinked.  _ Pumpkin juice.  _ The cup filled, Yaoyorozu was looking at him. “That's handy.” He took a sip.  _ Good, too. Hogwarts has good food. _

She smiled. “We had enchanted silverware at Beauxbatons, as well.” He knew she missed her old school, but had found good friends in the last year that she had been at Hogwarts. “You had to squeeze your own fruit for juice or climb up the mountain to get water from the spring to have something to drink at Durmstrang, didn't you?” 

“That’s -” he snorted. “A little bit of an exaggeration.” 

“Oh, this is Todoroki,” he heard Midoriya say. He leaned into the table a little bit as he was introduced to the other Ravenclaw with violet eyes. “Todoroki, this is Shinsou Hitoshi.” Midoriya scanned the faces of the table. “This is everyone, then, who's here from Mahoutokoro.” His voice was quiet, thoughtful, not directed to anyone.

Shouto’s spoon did not waver as it delivered mashed potato into his mouth. He waited a minute, carefully watching as conversations branched away from them, “We don't know that.” 

Midoriya made a humming noise into his goblet. “I didn't mean to say that out loud.” 

Mahoutokoro was the smallest of eleven magical schools by student population, though they had day students starting from seven years old. At eleven, most of their students had the advantage in theory and skill, so allowed them to transfer to a different school if they preferred. The price, of course, was  _ obliviation _ . Understandable, for each school had its secrets. While the child would know they had once attended Mahoutokoro and would remember their own capabilities, they would forget everything else - from teachers, classmates, curriculum, and location. 

Either Midoriya retained his memories from Mahoutokoro or he had the list of students in his head. 

_ Is it possible to die from curiousity?  _ Shouto shouldn't ask some things now that he knew that Midoriya was an Unspeakable, who had no choice but to keep secrets. “Do we have an enchanted ceiling?” 

“Oh! Do you like it? It's not as fancy as the one up here,” Midoriya tilted his head upwards. “I'm not exactly sure how this one works and who changes the ceiling during holidays, or if the candles are suspended by the castle’s magic or a professor’s - but I didn't need to recreate the whole ceiling anyway, so it doesn't really matter?” He turned to Shouto with a crease between his brows. “It's enchanted for daylight, is that okay? Did it wake you this morning? I might be able to change it for your room?” 

“No, it's fine, I like it.” They kept their voices low, “What about what's above the ceiling?” 

“Secret garden.”  _ More secrets.  _

“Are you an herbology apprentice, too?” 

Midoriya grinned. “Maybe next year.” He finished off his bowl and drained his goblet. “I have to go to the infirmary,” he said a little louder as he stood from his seat. 

“What's wrong, Deku-kun?” Uraraka asked worriedly. 

“Oh, nothing! Just apprentice stuff.” Midoriya assured. “Todoroki-kun, did you -” 

Shouto stood as well, “I'll go with you.” He promised to help out with the Christmas set up later that night to Yaoyorozu, who had tried to argue that it was past curfew before they all realized that since he was Midoriya’s roommate, he really didn't have one. “Am I going to get killed by someone who wants to be your roommate?” He asked as he followed Midoriya to the hospital wing. 

Midoriya laughed. “I think they all know they don't stand a chance against your Disarming charms, at least. Besides, I wouldn't let them.”

Shouto felt his cheeks warm. He didn't dare look up from the stone below his feet as he recited another question from a long list. 

  
  


_ Oh my goodness, Izuku, stop hitting on your soulmate.  _

Todoroki didn’t comment on it or berate him. “Yaoyorozu and Aizawa-sensei mentioned something about a hero course club. Everyone acts as though you’re the advisor for it.”

“I guess I would be an advisor because I have the details.” Izuku shrugged. “The main instructor is Aizawa-sensei who teaches us some things he would have taught at UA. We have professors who are Pro Heroes as well as teachers from UA...they’re very busy when both schools are in session, on top of their Hero and Auror work, but they find time to help us out. Principal Nedzu is only temporarily Headmaster this year because he’s doing the actual Headmistress a favour?” He lowered his voice, “But I think he lost a bet a while back. All Japanese Heroes are here temporarily to teach, as well, but occasionally they get called back to Japan for business so sometimes they sub for each other.” Izuku had had to be the substitute twice, already.

“All the Heroes are substitutes here?” 

“Yes, the Hogwarts professors are on extended...vacations.” Izuku wasn’t really sure, but had been told that they were on break. They entered the hospital wing. He went straight for the cupboards and began taking stock of the potions and first-aid materials. “Anyway, Principal Nedzu suggested the hero club as a project. Wizards and witches born with Quirks who aspire to be part of both worlds have it rough because wizarding schools only take you for so long. Everyone in the club wants to be Pro Hero one day, and a few want to have a spot in the wizarding world, too, as an Auror or magitech or something. It’s a hard road to take, because hero classes are mandatory, too, and it sets magical folk back when they have to take the university courses later on.” He could probably stock up on some Pepper-Up potions for Chiyo-baasan. “So, the hero club project is for those who want to be part of both. They attend classes here and get the full wizarding experience, and get a little practice from real teachers from a renowned hero school if they pass the club entrance exam - oh!” Izuku looked up from the cabinets. “We should give it to you, too, to be fair...if you wanted to join the club, of course.”

“I think I do.” Todoroki said. 

Izuku grinned. “Great! It’s fun. Anyway,” he went to the stockroom in the back for supplies. “I guess what you really want to know is how it’s possible, since magic and Quirks don’t mix too well, but you’ve figured it out kind of, from the bistro, right?”

Todoroki frowned. “No, I just know it’s because of you. I don’t know how you’re doing it.” 

“Well...you don’t need to know the  _ how  _ just that I do…” Izuku said slowly, but trailing off when Todoroki made a face. “Unless you want to know…?” He laughed a little and walked across the room. “Can you use your Quirk?” 

Holding up his right hand, Todoroki’s ice crept up his fingers. “A little.” 

Izuku took a moment to gather what he needed before saying, “How about now?” 

Todoroki made a fist as his entire right side frosted over. “That’s you.” 

“It’s me.” Izuku affirmed. “I can’t explain it as much as I think you want me to, but I can tell you that I can manipulate the magical space enough that allows Quirks to...breathe, expand, not be suffocated by magic.” The theory wasn’t unheard of, but it was never made possible until Izuku figured it out. The ability was dangerous in the wrong hands, but would be so beneficial if the worlds were to merge together. 

“It feels like you’re...wrapping around me.” 

Izuku blinked, bouncing details in his head. “You shouldn’t be feeling anything except for your Quirk...Merlin, Todoroki, can you feel auras?” He felt his jaw drop a little when Todoroki nodded (a little hesitantly) Izuku can understand, because he didn’t go around telling people, either - it was hard to explain to people that you can determine what their magic looked like when they were feeling things, using it for spells, when they were lying - “Can you  _ see  _ magical signatures?” 

“Not all the time, and not now” He shifted on his feet, ice melting off steadily.  _ He’s borrowing it from me _ . Izuku realized the same time Todoroki said, “It comes and goes.”

Izuku slipped his aura away when all the ice was gone, careful not to be so sudden. He hadn’t known that abilities would pass through the connection. It hadn’t been in his research.  _ Does it pass his abilities to me sometimes, and I just never noticed?  _

“By the way, you held my wand earlier.”  _ Please think about what you’re saying!  _

“Yes?” 

Todoroki took out his wand from his sleeve. “Can you do it again?” 

Izuku puzzled over the request as he walked back to him, hand outstretched to take the wand, “Is something wrong with it?” He knew very little about wands, except that they were used to channel magic from within - not something he  _ needed  _ for magic, but needed the practice for. Not that he wasn’t interested in knowing why the wood and core mattered, or why some wands just don’t work for some people. Todoroki’s was a pretty colour, darker than his own. 

“It usually makes people uncomfortable.” 

“I guess? It’s tied to you, in a way, so -”

“I mean, the people who hold it. They say it fights them before they can even cast anything.”

Cue the shrieking in his head,  _ We’re soulmates! It’s not going to fight me because I’m tied to you, too!  _ He really needed to write this down. “I guess it likes me.” Izuku checked the wall clock, “We should head back over to the Great Hall.” Dinner was over half an hour ago. He handed over the wand back to its owner, closing the doors to the infirmary behind them as they headed back to help with setting up Christmas decorations. 

 

December swept Hogwarts with heavy snowfall and a steep plunge in temperature. Izuku had a warming charm on him wherever he went, and oftentimes he gave it to classmates who happened to see him. The Christmas decorations were all over the castle, bright despite the dreary weather. He and Todoroki quickly found a good rhythm with each other, at odds with Izuku’s erratic heartbeat. Their mornings started when Izuku was done with a shower after his run, Todoroki would leave his room when he was drying his hair in the living room and they exchanged good mornings. He melted to every morning Todoroki, who only had one sock survive the night and had puffy cheeks and mussed red and white locks away from his forehead. Todoroki would use the washroom, come out, and one of them would ask if they wanted to eat breakfast at the hall that day before class, which was becoming every other day since he and Todoroki only really had coffee in the morning, sometimes fruit. They go to all the Slytherin classes. 

All of them, for the next week. 

They make quite a pair, and Izuku didn’t mean it in the soulmate way. The student body readily accepted Todoroki, who became popular with both girls and boys with his cool looks, but feared with his stoic expression and steely gaze. His company with Izuku, however, unnerved some of them. 

“You two are kind of scary.” Shinsou said plainly at lunchtime, when Izuku kept meeting wary glances towards their table. “You, All Might’s pupil,” He cut open a blueberry muffin. “And him, Durmstrang’s prodigy, always in the same place. You two are almost as unapproachable as Bakugou is.” 

Bakugou was in the library beating the potions essay into Kirishima’s head due their next period, so he wasn’t there to (weakly) defend himself.

“You know what’s really frightening?” Yaoyorozu reapplied her warming charm over her head. “Todoroki-san isn’t wearing a coat.” 

The cold did not bother Todoroki Shouto, who wasn’t even wearing a scarf and hadn't cast a single warming charm on himself. He raised an eyebrow at Yaoyorozu before going back to his cold soba. 

“Merlin, you’re right.” Ojiro mumbled into his scarf, tail curled around him. 

Amajiki Tamaki allowed Todoroki a late audition after much pleading from the entire Slytherin Quidditch team. Todoroki passed with flying colours, but said that he was fine with not playing in matches so that the roster wouldn’t be tipped over with his addition so late in the season. 

(Amajiki had quickly run away, pointed ears red) Togata Mirio’s laughter rang across the Great Hall, contagious to all Houses.

When they finished attending all of the classes, Todoroki asked Izuku what O.W.L.s he was taking, and simply chose those as his own. It brought them to an audience with Nedzu, who drew up classes and a couple of extra lectures to catch up with what he had missed since September. 

On the fifth day, Todoroki received mail in their tower. “It's from my old roommate in Durmstrang.” He replied when Izuku asked, already writing a reply on the dining table. “Can you show me to the owlery after class?” 

“Are you done writing?” 

“Yeah.” 

Izuku didn't look away from Todoroki’s face. “Rowlet.” He bit his lip to keep from grinning as Todoroki’s eyes widened when Rowlet descended from the silver disk on the ceiling, magnificent and golden, red, and green.

“Midoriya.” 

“Yes.” 

“That's a phoenix.” 

Rowlet chirped, landing gently on Izuku’s head. She brought her beak down to tap his temple. Izuku couldn't help but giggle. “I've been wanting to introduce you two for a while now.” 

“Midoriya, I don't think I can ask a phoenix to - did you say Rowlet? Did you name a mythical creature after a  _ Pocket Monster _ ?” 

“Todoroki-kun, nobody says Pocket Monster!”

It took a bit of convincing for Todoroki to allow Rowlet to take his letter to Durmstrang, which Izuku rationalized with, “Do you know how long an owl would take to go all the way over there? Rowlet can teleport.” 

“Is that a Pokemon move?” 

“Yes.” 

“Where did you even  _ find  _ a phoenix?” Todoroki asked as Rowlet swooped out of the tower, embers trailing behind her. 

Izuku hummed. “She found me.” 

 

After dinners, Todoroki would join Izuku at the hospital wing to help with restocking Pepper-Up potions, which were going fast due to the weather. Back in their living room, textbooks lay open on both tables and the kitchenette island. Some were open for classes, some were Izuku’s for research (he lost notebooks this way), and the rest were for Healing. Those were from Izuku’s library, littered with notes on the margins. Todoroki poured over them after homework, sometimes asking Izuku to help him with the direction of magic.

“I can cut myself a little so that you can cast the spell.” Izuku had offered. 

“That's -” Todoroki looked up from practicing the wand movement of a healing spell, a corner of his mouth tugging down. “No, I think I'll be okay.” 

_ Oh, good, I don't know what I would have done if he healed me through the connection by accident instead.  _

It was a little more than nice. They took turns making coffee and tea, and switched between studying on the dining table or the kotatsu. Todoroki was a good study partner, who didn’t seem to mind when Izuku began muttering while writing down uses for amaranth roots. Izuku found that Todoroki was actually listening to his ramblings, truly following his train of thought, when more than a handful of times Todoroki politely cut in to offer a suggestion. Izuku had gotten the petal count of dragon-eye flowers wrong so Todoroki corrected him and added, “They’re only used in combustion potions, but maybe you can use them for anti-combustion if you…” 

Sometimes he would ask questions about Izuku’s spellcrafting, or, like that ninth night, about his Quirk. 

Izuku lifted a shoulder. “Strength-enhancement.” He took a deep breath and activated Full Cowl, skin and nerves alight under Todoroki’s dual toned gaze, causing him to activate his secret Quirk: Nervous Babbling, “I used to have a hard time controlling it when I first got it, since I got it pretty late compared to everyone else, so I had to train really hard for almost a year and I would like, break my bones and stuff -” 

“You what.”

“I...broke my bones…”

“Is that how you got those -”

All Might’s Patronus burst into the room. “Midoriya-shounen! Come quickly, Durmstrang castle is under attack!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's that for a cliffhanger? c;  
> The world building is never-ending! 
> 
> I'm on tumblr and twitter @empress_matcha


	4. Have we met, Soulmate?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the thick of it, there were a handful of students in the Durmstrang uniforms huddled behind one of the training room’s stone barriers. From where they stood above, Shouto easily spotted Iida - who had three other students behind him - deflect an incoming spell coming from the side, protego bursting under the impact.

Midoriya Izuku was a proud Ravenclaw, usually top of his class in both practical and theoretical magic. He was smart - he had to be, when one lived a life such as he did. He was lucky to have good memory and excellent recall even in a crisis. It was his first reflex to think through things thoroughly in an instant, to find a way in and out of predicaments big and small. Up until recently, he was never one to be forgetful. 

It would have been fine, maybe, if he forgot little things such as where he last put his favourite pen down, or to tuck his wand into a sleeve or pocket before leaving the tower, or what page the wolfsbane potion was on...then maybe he wouldn't be so startled every day. Because it really was (nearly) every single day, that he had to once again realize that Todoroki Shouto was his soulmate. 

Living with your soulmate wasn't something you would forget about just by falling asleep. 

Izuku was an avid note taker, probably an obsessive note taker, even - with the way his hands would itch for a pen and paper every time a detail was flung his way. It was habit - he didn't need to take notes or record his days, he just wanted to. It soothed him to dump the contents of his mind physically, instead of just muttering it into the atmosphere. So no one could blame him for the shock that goes through his entire system, like a misdirected Full Cowl going inwards instead of out, when he finished up a journal entry in a new red notebook stating that yes, Todoroki was his soulmate and he was wonderful and too pretty - only to begin set it atop his drawer on top of another two red notebooks. Opening them revealed that the bottommost was from the first night with Todoroki and the fourth, the second held the sixth night alone. Izuku had just finished the eighth night, in a brand new notebook because he had forgotten that he had already begun recording. The red notebooks glared at him as he took out his wand with a shaky hand to transfer all entries into one. He mentioned the same thing over and over as though it were new information: he had found his soulmate, the bond did something different for that day, and there seemed to be a modified  _ obliviate  _ that was messing with him. It hasn't been two weeks and he had already forgotten about the strange  _ obliviate  _ that had knocked Todoroki out...if Izuku hadn't written it down, he would have just forgotten the next day - there were already blanks in his memory from when he didn't write down anything at the end of the night, which was upsetting mostly because that meant he missed out on the bond observations. 

On the ninth morning, Rowlet smacked him in the face with the red notebook (why, he wasn't sure...sometimes she wanted the attention). He had woken up and had already forgotten, so he made an early entry instead of waiting for nighttime. Throughout the day he watched for anything that would have hinted at their connection...but there had been nothing, even when he had gone as far as spilling coffee on Todoroki’s lap during breakfast (okay, maybe that wasn't on purpose, but it was for a good cause) so he was sure he would have missed an entry. Todoroki’s eyes had widened, but he had shrugged it off with a wave of an  _ evanesco _ , unharmed by the hot liquid. 

It was the first time that Todoroki asked about Izuku’s Quirk. If (very specifically) asked, Izuku would admit that reaching for One For All was not exactly an easy task. It required tremendous amount of focus and control to power up Full Cowl - it always had, and even more so in wizarding capitals. But Todoroki had asked while they were sitting down in the living room, where Izuku had plenty of practice manipulating the space, so One For All jumped in his veins just a little as he powered up. Todoroki moved just a breath closer while Izuku babbled. 

Izuku dropped Full Cowl as All Might’s Patronus dispersed and was on his feet going through a list in his head in the next instant. “Todoroki-kun -”

Todoroki had also gotten up and immediately pinned Izuku with a hard stare. “I'm going with you.” 

Auror training and his Unspeakable status bared their fangs in Izuku’s head.  _ No,  _ was at the tip of his tongue,  _ it's too dangerous,  _ didn't sound right as the rules stacked on top of each other. But Izuku cannot forget that Durmstrang was Todoroki’s school, just days ago, and that he had at least one friend over there. 

And Izuku didn't want to say no. He sighed and cursed the god of circumstances because he was going to be in so much trouble for bending the rules. 

(Again. Aizawa had scolded him about the bistro fight)

“Okay.” 

Todoroki’s eyes widened. “Okay?” 

Izuku nonverbally  _ accio-ed _ his raven cloak, tugged off his House tie and threw it on the kotatsu table along with his school robes. “Yes. Don't wear anything from Hogwarts.” 

“Just like that?” 

“You would have fought me if I said no, right?” Izuku grumbled.

“...Yes.” 

“So, yes.” A thought occurred to him and so he dashed to his room where he grabbed a bundle and nearly collided with Todoroki on the way back to the living room, “Oh - I wasn't going to leave, uh -” he pushed the clothing into Todoroki’s arms and directed his roommate by the shoulders to the other’s room, “My Auror battle robes, put them on.” 

Izuku ran back to his room to tie on his shoes. Todoroki was faster to change and was in the living room with his wand out to adjust the size of Izuku’s battle robes on him. “Do you need help?” Already Todoroki looked better in them than Izuku did.  _ After getting yelled at, maybe I should ask if he wants to try going into the training program with me.  _ He had a good chance of driving Izuku into a corner from what he showed at the little bistro in Diagon Alley. 

Todoroki shook his head. “They fit pretty well already.” He finished, brows drawn slightly. “I think…” He exhaled. “You can beat me, right now.” 

“I can,” Izuku said seriously and smiled when Todoroki frowned. Izuku had the home advantage and control of the field. Maybe, maybe Todoroki had the magical prowess to out-cast Izuku. “But you want to go.” 

Todoroki nodded. “I want to go.” 

Izuku took out his wand and broke a small space of Hogwarts’ wards, and grabbed Todoroki’s wrist. “We’re Apparating into the castle, are you ready?” 

“How are you - never mind.” Todoroki’s eyes narrowed. “I'll ask later.” 

Several wards from both schools fought against Izuku’s magic as he Apparated them out of their living room, and into a battle zone. 

 

Shouto had about ten centimeters on Midoriya, but the black battle robes fit him like a secure, dangerous gauntlet, inlaid with charms and enchantments. The adjustments to length were surprisingly minor, but it was good for that time. 

Midoriya Apparated them to the highest point of Durmstrang castle and staggered forward with a low growl as snow heavily fell upon them. 

The drain in magic from Midoriya was so great, Shouto barely felt its’ thrum as he grabbed Midoriya’s shoulder to keep him from falling over. It was disconcerting, as Midoriya seemed to have had an endless supply of it - but only for a moment, because Midoriya recovered - impossibly, instantly. “What -” 

Midoriya stood with a slight sway, already moving for the tower door, his hand - the right one that Shouto wanted to ask about just minutes ago - was still around Shouto’s wrist. “I took from the castle.” Like that made any sense.

Inside, chaos echoed through the dark, barely lit halls as Midoriya turned corners with some sort of direction Shouto couldn't place, but Midoriya seemed to know the layout of the castle. 

“You've been here before.” They could hear shouting and spells, jinxes, curses. 

“Twice. Briefly, very long ago.” He admitted. “It helps that the staircases here don't move on their own. I'm just heading towards the battle.”

“It could be spread throughout the castle.” 

Midoriya bit his lip. “We’re going where All Might is.” 

“How do you know where he is?” Instead of just  _ do you know.  _ But the next turn brought them to the mezzanine of Durmstrang’s biggest training hall overlooking the battle. Shouto spotted Aurors Toshinori and Aizawa amongst the school’s professors - they were at the very front with the Durmstrang Headmaster and martial magic professor, across from dozens of wizards throwing nasty looking curses. 

In the thick of it, there were a handful of students in the Durmstrang uniforms huddled behind one of the training room’s stone barriers. From where they stood above, Shouto easily spotted Iida - who had three other students behind him - deflect an incoming spell coming from the side,  _ protego  _ bursting under the impact. Another student cast another above their group. 

Midoriya gripped the railing in front of them, looking as though he could accidentally fall over it.

“Midoriya?” 

“We need to get down there.” 

Shouto led them to the staircase towards the Aurors. He kept an eye on the battle and another on Midoriya as the boy paled with each step. “What's wrong?” 

A curse bounced off of Midoriya’s quick  _ protego _ , causing them to pick up their pace and lower themselves as they reached the Aurors.

“Midoriya-shounen - ah, Todoroki-shounen, you shouldn't be here -” Toshinori was nearly doubled over with how much he had to crouch to behind the barrier. 

Midoriya bowed his head. “I'm sorry, All Might.”

What chiding Toshinori had on his face morphed into concern at Midoriya’s weary tone and pallor. 

“I-I apologize, Midoriya-shounen -”

“No, it's not just that - it's the castle. The castle is fighting me -” he took a measured breath in through his nose. “I'm fine.” Midoriya straightened. “How can we help?” 

The Durmstrang faculty looked relieved to see Shouto on their side, while Aizawa gave him and Midoriya a quick glare with the promise of scolding in the future, but shortly catching them up. 

Dark wizards had infiltrated the school through some sort of vortex not even half an hour ago, their numbers including a handful of physically mutated Quirks. Aizawa and Toshinori had been allowed through the anti-apparition wards when the Auror office had been contacted by Durmstrang via Patronus. Some of the Durmstrang faculty and students had been hit with rather nasty jinxes, but the Unforgivables hadn't been thrown around until they saw All Might join the fray. 

“They're probably scared of what he would do to them once we get those kids back here - we’ve had to hold back our own spells in case they get deflected towards the children.” Durmstrang Headmaster Krum said, and Shouto was boggled to hear the words in Japanese, courtesy of Midoriya’s translator spell. “We are fortunate to have Aurors here at all, with most teams out chasing trails for these wizards.”

“Midoriya, do you think you can go in and get them back here while we cover you?” Aizawa asked, earning shocked expressions. 

“Aizawa-kun, it would be best if I went instead, would it not?” Toshinori said worriedly.

At the same time, Midoriya nodded. “Yes. I can do that.” He turned to Toshinori. “You're a bigger target, All Might. We have to assume since you haven't seen them try to leave that they might be after you. It's better to have everyone better at spellcasting back here so that I can safely go and come back.” 

“I'm going with you.” Shouto said. 

“You can’t seriously be thinking about sending these children out there?” Headmaster Krum frowned. “I know you are skilled, Todoroki, but this is -” 

“I’d like to take Todoroki-kun with me, if that was all right.” Midoriya rolled his shoulders and started towards the edge of the barrier. “Who are those students over there? How did they end up in the middle?” He peered around the corner. Shouto fought the urge to yank him back by his cloak.

“They were furthest into the room and had activated the obsidian barriers when the fight began in the middle of their martial magic training.” Professor Frenrik replied. “I had managed to send the other students away but one of them got injured.”

“These are obsidian?” Midoriya mumbled, fingers tapping the barrier. “Oh, we need to go now, before the enemy decides to attack them more. Todoroki-kun,” 

Shouto went to stand by him. “Ready.” 

“We’ll cover you.” Toshinori said, standing with wand at the ready with Aizawa and the Durmstrang professors. 

“I can't give you full control of your Quirk.” Midoriya said in a low voice. “It's a secret and actually -” his eyes squinted. “The castle or its ley lines - I'm not sure which - isn't entirely friendly to me, so I'm not even sure if I could reach around to you if you needed it and we were separated.” 

Shouto reached for his Quirk, wand in hand. 

They rushed forward. 

It was a straight twenty meters to the Durmstrang students, and they were completely out in the open. Shouto’s layered  _ protego  _ covered himself and Midoriya as the boy wandlessly deflected and threw rapid disarming and stunning spells on top of the ones the Aurors and Durmstrang professors provided. A large man with four arms came barreling towards them, getting hit by two stunners from the professors but did not slow - Shouto met him with an icy step, freezing the man in place, although only halfway. He already felt the chill weighing on his chest. The price was too high for what he should have been able to do. His  _ protego  _ shattered under several spells thrown at it at once, having earned the attention. Midoriya had another shield charm up instantly and the closest assailant mid-cast was  _ stupified  _ and disarmed. With his back turned to the barrier and the huddle students, Midoriya gave Shouto a slight tilt of his head - a brief connection which came across to Shouto as ‘I’ll cover you’ as he ran past.

“Todoroki-kun?” Iida’s mouth was agape with disbelief. His uniform had cuts and smudges, something Shouto was sure would drive the bespectacled boy crazy later on. “What are you doing here?” 

Hero training for rescues kicked in. “Helping.” Shouto said shortly, but giving his old roommate a nod. “We’re moving you guys.” 

Midoriya had his wand out - he raised his arm over his head and muttered an incantation as he swept it down, magic extending like a whip.  _ Where have I seen that before?  _ “Can the wounded be carried?” Shouto had forgotten to ask. 

Iida nodded, hefting the boy onto his back with the help of another student. “Yes, we haven't had a clear path.”

“We’ll make one.” 

Shouto’s heart did an inappropriate  _ lurch _ as he watched as Midoriya swung his whip around to catch someone by their ankle, and yanked them around to knock several others back with a clean  _ crack. _ The Durmstrang students took a moment to collectively gather Shouto’s shock to physically manifest in a single, “ _ Merlin, _ ” - before running towards the barricade where the faculty supported them. 

“Whew, Midnight makes it look so easy.” Midoriya wiped at his brow. 

_ That's where.  _ Midnight’s Quirk was top tier, but the appearance of her wandless, magic whips in battle made for a turn in the tides. “It's not. They teach it exclusively at Beauxbatons.” He remembered Yaoyorozu being excited when she had been the first in her class to have had been able to form the whip, though she couldn't maintain it for very long. 

Midoriya’s mouth curled into an impish grin Shouto was quickly becoming accustomed to, the twinkle in verdant eyes mysterious yet allowing the surface of a secret to show. 

Shouto gave him a dry look. “I'll ask later.” 

Midoriya lifted a shoulder, bringing his wand to rest against it. “They're about halfway, let’s -”

It all happened very fast. Behind them, the barrier exploded. 

Shouto was tossed against the edge of the shield charm, obsidian crumbling at his feet. He had the next second to see the wizard standing where the barrier had been, with his wand up and his hand flat as though it had been against the stone - he had several disembodied hands clamped on his body, one covered most of his face though showed red eyes underneath, and…

“What's this? Young Aurors?” The man drawled, and he stepped forward with his hand  _ reaching  _ -

Midoriya’s whip struck it back along with a combined “ _ Expulso _ !” the force of the stacked curse caused Shouto to stagger, but Midoriya's hand was pulling on his elbow, though not before he could see the damage dealt. 

“Run!” 

Shouto didn’t dare question him, because Midoriya had only been throwing  _ stupefies  _ earlier - for the boy to cast a curse without hesitating was...he felt Midoriya stumble as they turned, so he grabbed the boy’s wrist and ran, his magic jumping in his veins as Midoriya’s core sought out a reservoir. Which made sense, since Midoriya’s  _ expulso _ had blown off a quarter of the training room’s floor. 

There was a horrible, inhuman screech. Shouto didn't even have the chance to think about looking back when a large, hulking... _ What on earth am I exactly looking at? -  _ jumped right in front of them. Midoriya’s Quirk flared with erratic light and had swung Shouto over his shoulder, jumped over the creature, and set Shouto on his feet before he could issue a  _ what the hell are you doing _ . Midoriya’s next inhale was sharp, his next step a limp before Shouto turned to release his barely built up Quirk; and yet it bristled from his right side at full power. 

_ Midoriya -  _ slumped over Shouto’s arm as the wall of ice hit the high ceiling. They shared a joint shiver, though Shouto was already moving with an arm around Midoriya’s shoulders and hurrying them the last meters to the barrier, where the professors had stepped away to receive them. 

“Midoriya-shounen!” Toshinori caught the boy, Shouto’s hand lingering on his back. 

“What was that creature?” Krum’s eyes remained behind them. 

Aizawa cursed under his breath. “Toshinori, they could be trying to escape from behind that wall, let's move - Todoroki, bring it down.” 

Dread shot through Shouto at the prospect of melting down that ice fast enough for the Aurors. It would take a lot of fire he really,  _ really  _ didn’t want to - no, couldn’t -  _ I could break through it with a blasting curse, he didn’t say that I had to use my Quirk.  _

“They’re already gone.” Midoriya said bleakly, he tilted his head to meet Shouto’s eyes over his raven cloaked shoulder which  _ seized _ at a feeling like...like guilt, though he wasn’t sure. He stamped it down. 

Krum nodded, looking grim. “It’s a small space, but they broke a hole through the anti-apparition wards.” 

“No, that’s just to hide the fact that someone on their side has a large scale Warp Quirk.” 

Slipping his wand in his sleeve, Aizawa turned. “Did you see something?” 

“Yes.” 

Shouto did not. 

Aizawa grimaced, something out of place on his gruff face that Shouto couldn’t determine as the Auror sighed. “Do you want to help with healing the Durmstrang students before we go?” 

A tired chuckle escaped Midoriya, and Shouto removed his hand from Midoriya’s back as he freed himself from Toshinori’s grasp. “I’d like to, yes. If I could, with Todoroki-kun’s help, Headmaster Krum?” 

 

Durmstrang castle’s ley lines went deeper into the ground than it did from Hogwarts’ dungeons. Izuku had intended to Apparate right beside Toshinori but because the weakest part of castle wards were those furthest from the ley lines, he and Todoroki had arrived at the highest point of the school. He had to expend energy to reach the source and for the first time in a long time he had to wrench his aura away from leeching onto the other taps in the room (Todoroki, the professors, the villains, the students throughout the castle). Not to mention the obsidian in the room and however much more within the castle walls - Izuku’s cloak didn't function quite as well when the stone was present. He hadn't been this reckless and (a little) helpless since Gran Torino had added the enchantments - although he had really pushed his luck trying out Midnight’s preferred mode of combat.  _ Maybe I can come back and look at Durmstrang’s library to see if they have anything on obsidian properties...or Todoroki-kun might know something. _

There was a little bit of hopping and limping as they approached the group of Durmstrang students huddled on the stone floor. Izuku raised a hand in greeting, “Hello -” 

One of them shot up, ram-rod straight - startling Izuku and causing him to jump back. 

“Ack -!” His bad ankle protested and he stumbled. 

Todoroki caught his elbow. “Your ankle’s twisted.” 

“It’s just a bit of a sprain.” Izuku said sheepishly. It was a bad landing from an uneven Full Cowl to get them out of the Nomu’s way, but he shouldn’t have had messed up his footing.  _I should have been more careful. What if I had tripped while holding him?_

“Are you alright?” The boy who had gotten to his feet said in a loud voice. 

“Yes, you just startled me -” 

He bowed sharply. “My apologies! I did not mean to startle you!” 

“Uh! It’s fine, really! I’m sorry!” 

Todoroki steadied Izuku on his feet. “He was my roommate here in Durmstrang.” 

“Iida Tenya, it is nice to meet you!” He stuck out his hand.

_ He’s so earnest.  _ Izuku couldn’t help but smile as he went to receive Iida’s hand. But the moment their fingers touched, it happened. 

Iida buckled to his knees with wide eyes, Izuku’s hand tightly grasped in his.

Izuku heard Todoroki shout. There was a brief moment where the world turned dark before it shattered all around him and Iida. 

It came in clipped bursts, fragments which didn’t quite belong to either of them. The moments shifted from joy, terror, and sadness, along with the depth of each emotion that had existed from a long ago that had never happened. Izuku was tugged into mock fights between familiar faces, real battles with bloodshed, a war which tore at thousands of lives...slipped in between was a voice which berated constantly, laced with concern, fear, and warmth. 

“Izuku-kun…?” Iida said in a hoarse voice. 

The final tendril was the price of that moment, and Izuku suppressed the inevitable shudder he had been expecting. 

Todoroki’s hand was gripping his shoulder. “Midoriya, what’s going on -” 

Izuku had his wand pointed between Iida’s eyes as Aizawa descended on them and wrapped his capturing weapon around Todoroki, who struggled against the cloth. He stifled a sigh with the guilt which quickly rose up in his chest as he looked into Iida’s eyes. He didn’t have to try hard to imagine that he had once called him Tenya, so he allowed his mind to use it, just this once, like he had with the others. 

_ I’m sorry, Tenya.  _

“ _ Obliviate.”  _

Iida’s eyes glazed over and his death grip slackened so that his arm fell to his side.

Todoroki stomped towards him, stepping in front of Iida. “What is the meaning of this, Midoriya.”

Izuku raised his wand. A wicked claw gripped at his heart at the flash of hurt that crossed Todoroki’s face. He pointed at the three Durmstrang students who had been watching, the  _ obliviate  _ coming wordlessly.  _ I wonder if I’ve done this enough times now to do it without my wand.  _ The thought saddened him further as he met Todoroki’s glare. He heard Headmaster Krum and the other Durmstrang professor speaking to Aizawa and Toshinori. “I’m not really sure what to tell you.” 

Todoroki brought his wand up to Izuku’s chest. “An explanation would be nice.” 

“Something Unspeakable happened so I followed protocol.” Izuku said simply, and wondered if he had the magic to match Todoroki if he actually tried attacking him.  

“Midoriya, you just  _ obliviated  _ four people after shaking hands with Iida. To begin with, your magic was nearly depleted when you limped over here -” 

“I wasn’t limping!” Izuku said indignantly. “Okay, maybe just one limp but -” 

Todoroki’s hand shot forward and grabbed Izuku’s wrist, surprising him and barely had the control to drive down the magic that would have propelled Todoroki back. 

“What -” 

“Your core isn’t nearly as empty anymore.” Todoroki narrowed his eyes. “That should be impossible.” 

Izuku hummed and feigned nonchalance even as heat spread up his neck because  _ now is not the time to be thinking about how Todoroki looks really pretty while he’s mad, Izuku _ . It wasn’t his fault that Todoroki was in his personal space and had a big arrow sign pointed at him that cried ‘Veela’. “It’s impressive you can determine magic levels with just a touch, Todoroki-kun.”

“Don't change the subject.” 

“It was a compliment on your skill about the subject.” Izuku let his arm weigh down to make Todoroki release it. Izuku stepped around him to help Iida to his feet.  _ He’s still a little out of it, but he’ll be out of the haze soon.  _ “...If you don’t ask I won’t  _ obliviate _ you.” He said quietly, guiltily, a little honestly. He might have to  _ obliviate  _ Todoroki anyway, later... _ But for now, it’s kind of nice to have someone who remembers.  _ Even if Izuku couldn’t explain. 

Todoroki stiffened, which made Izuku wonder if there was something more to unpack - but then again, of course there would be, where Todoroki was involved. 

“Fine.” 

Izuku threw a grateful smile over his shoulder. 

Todoroki scowled back halfheartedly. “Your magic isn’t at empty but it’s pretty damn close so hurry up and introduce yourself so I can heal you and the injured.” 

_ Probably not a good idea.  _ He took a step back as Iida’s eyes refocused. “Nice to meet you, Iida-kun. I’m Midoriya Izuku.” 

Iida blinked several times, brow furrowed slightly as he cleared his throat. “Yes - I’m sorry, I must have spaced out a little bit, it is very unlike me and was rude to you. Thank you, Midoriya-kun, Todoroki-kun, for coming to our aid.” 

Todoroki stepped forward and offered to heal their classmates. 

“They teach Healing at Hogwarts, Todoroki-kun?” 

“No, I'm learning from someone.” 

Iida smiled. “I'm glad to hear that - I recall you had interest in Healing.” 

While Todoroki healed the Durmstrang students, Izuku made quick work of his very minor sprain and wondered why Todoroki would want to learn Healing. Healing was higher magic and something not every wizard would have the affinity for, no matter how long and much they studied the art, it required theoretical knowledge of how magic flowed in the veins and the skill to manipulate the currents between Healer and the injured. Izuku had such great affinity for Healing that it could make his recovery potions more potent. If he understood it correctly, even if Todoroki had little to no affinity for it, Izuku’s ability could flow through the connection...which was maybe why Todoroki had successfully closed the cuts and the sprain on the Durmstrang students. 

Or Todoroki had the affinity to begin with. Todoroki stood and put away his wand, brow slightly furrowed. 

“What's wrong?” Izuku asked, watching as the Durmstrang student who had had the sprain jump onto their feet. “You did a good job, Todoroki-kun.” 

“I thought I was going to have to ask you for help on the sprain.” 

“It looks good!” 

“Yeah.”  _ Maybe a no to the natural healing affinity.  _

Izuku didn't know if Todoroki had tried Healing before Todoroki had read through Izuku’s books, but he can probably guess that he had at least tried and hadn't done so well, but then again Izuku always had the Healing affinity so it would have had been available to Todoroki through the connection... _ maybe distance affects potency? Could our skills merge together when we’re in close quarters or does today happen to be the day where my Healing affinity is going through the connection? Would it be coincidence or - _

Toshinori walked over to them with Aizawa in tow. “Midoriya-shounen, we should get going.” 

Izuku sighed. “Okay.”

“Aizawa-kun will take Todoroki-shounen back to Hogwarts. Todoroki-shounen, thank you for helping us tonight and I apologize for having you involved in the fight.” Toshinori bowed his head. 

Todoroki looked at Izuku. “That sounded like you weren't coming with us.” 

Toshinori placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “Midoriya-shounen and I will be going to the Ministry for tonight’s report.” 

Izuku wasn't excited for the long night to come. “If I'm not back by tomorrow, just ask for Eri if you still need directions - she should be able to hear you.” He assured.

“The ghost?” Todoroki blinked. “Why wouldn't you be back tomorrow?” 

“Eri? She’s not a ghost, Todoroki-kun.”

Aizawa nudged Toshinori. “We better get going. It's late and you two have a lot to relay.” Aizawa shot a Look at both Izuku and Toshinori, the latter chuckling. 

“I'll see you soon, Todoroki-kun!” Izuku waved. 

An expression flitted across Todoroki’s face, something vulnerable that Izuku couldn’t recall as Todoroki gave a slight nod and turned away to follow Aizawa. 

Izuku stared at Todoroki’s back and felt his heart give a lonely thud.  _ That’s silly and way too dramatic.  _ He ripped his gaze away to smile at Toshinori. “Are you feeling well, All Might?” 

“Thanks to you, my boy.”

 

Midoriya did not come back the next day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than the past chapters...but it is here!  
> Hi, Iida! I've been wanting to write you!
> 
> Maybe you'd like to chat with me on tumblr and twitter?: @empress_matcha


	5. I was just thinking about you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was like staring at the face of a dam after thinking that a wall of glass could hold back all the water he had poured in himself.  
> Izuku had a lot of things to do, some things to fix, more than too many things to write down and plan for the future.

Shouto had two older brothers and an older sister, but he had grown up alone. The moment his Quirk had manifested his fa -  _ Endeavor  _ had stolen him away to “mold his perfect creation”. His childhood had consisted of a strict training regiment beginning before dawn and ending at the darkest hour, bruises and burns on skin and in his lungs, the protests of his family as Endeavor repeatedly dragged him away, the emptiness of his reservoir as magic attempted to fight the price of overusing his Quirk -

_ “You are different from them.”  _

The cup of coffee in his hand frosted over. He frowned at it for a moment before deciding that he might as well go down for breakfast at the Great Hall. He looked up at the enchanted ceiling and wondered if he should try going up to Midoriya’s secret garden, but he didn't because Midoriya had mentioned dangerous plants; which Shouto was all for but he didn't know how many dangerous plants were up there, so...so he knocked on Midoriya’s door anyway, and waited for a minute before he poked his head in to find it empty. Something, like a phantom hand curled around his heart, and twisted it to hurt just so, and he shoved that away with a shake of his head, closing Midoriya’s door. Down the spiral steps, he paused before the golden screen. 

_ “Eri? She's not a ghost, Todoroki-kun.” _

“...Eri.”

The girl stepped out of the shimmering curtain equipped with a warm smile that made Shouto wonder if Midoroya had taught her to do that.  _ Do what.  _ He tried not to frown over that. 

She bowed her head slightly, smile wobbling.  _ That.  _ “Todoroki-san, what was it?” 

Shouto didn't have a lot of experience with children, but he wasn't surprised at how uneasy she seemed. “I think I might need help finding my way to the Great Hall.” 

She brightened. “Oh, yes, I can take you! Please follow me.” 

This time, he did his best to engrave a map of their steps into his mind. It was hard to do so when he had walked with Midoriya because Shouto followed  _ his  _ every motion. 

_ Not a ghost.  _ He can hear her footsteps, albeit very light compared to his own. There was a sort of energy, Quirk or magic, which served to make her overall  _ floaty  _ looking, as though there was the risk of her lifting off of the floor.

“What are you?” 

The girl blinked up at him. “I-I’m sorry?” 

Shouto wanted to punch himself. “You're…?”  _ What.  _ “Are you a...spirit?” 

She reached for his hand with a smile, little fingers wrapping around his own and he...he felt something from that. “Izuku is protecting me here.”

He didn't need any more than that. 

When they arrived at the Great Hall Eri was swept up by the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain. 

“Eri! It's been a while!” Togata exclaimed, swinging the girl in his arms. 

She shrieked happily. “Put me down!” 

Amajiki quickly snatched the girl from the blonde and held her close. “You're being reckless, Mirio.” 

“Ah! Amajiki, that's not fair!” Hadou crept up behind him and lightly pinched Eri’s cheeks over his shoulder. “Hey, little Eri!” 

Shouto, feeling like he was intruding on something, bowed his head to his seniors and nodded at Eri, who waved at him. He sat down next to Yaoyorozu at the table and she handed him the pot of coffee. 

Sprinkled around the massive  _ obliviate  _ from when he was seven until eleven because of Mahoutokoro’s rules were stolen moments with his siblings (mostly with Fuyumi), letters and short play dates with the Iida children, Yaoyorozu Momo, and - 

“Good morning, Todoroki-san.”

“Thank you. Good morning.”

“You're welcome. Is Midoriya-san not joining us for breakfast this morning?” 

“He's not here.” He said, pouring himself a cup. 

“Aw, man, Midoriya's out? We haven't even had a meeting yet!” Kaminari whined. 

“It is a shame.” Yaoyorozu admitted sadly. “Will he be gone long again this time?” 

Shouto took a quick look down the table. “Is this a normal thing?” 

Nobody seemed fazed that their classmate was absent. He felt maybe concern, maybe something else in his chest. Two cubes of sugar make it into his cup to ease it. 

Yaoyorozu nodded. “Midoriya-san spends more time out of class rather than in. Usually there's the corresponding absence of All Might-san as well.” 

There was a collective glance from their table to the professor’s table, where Auror Toshinori’s seat was vacant next to the Headmaster.

“And yet he took the top scores for our year in the last tests.” Shinsou grumbled, eye bags darker than the last time Shouto had seen him. “I heard Hadou-senpai was looking for him this morning -” 

Hadou’s big blue eyes were suddenly in Shouto’s face. “Todoroki.” 

Shouto stilled every inch of his body that wanted to jerk back. “Hadou-senpai.”

Her lips curled and he was very much reminded of Midoriya for some odd reason.  _ Her eyes _ , he thought. “Wow! Even your eyes and hair are half-and-half! How did you get your scar?” 

_ “Everyday his left side looks more and more like him -!” _

“That’s -”

“Your bloodline must be really strong, it doesn’t affect your charm at all!” 

“What -” He paused and slightly leaned back to be able to see more than just her eyes. The Veela charm was very, impressively muted on her.  _ Hadou... _ where did he know that name? His eye caught Amajiki’s slumped form behind her, looking as bothered as ever. “Amajiki-senpai.”

“Todoroki, Hadou’s trying to make you play the game this weekend.” 

Hadou’s eyes twinkled in the same way Midoriya’s did when he wasn’t trying too hard to hide something. “I really want to see how you made it in the team so late in the year! Amajiki’s real picky when it comes to Quidditch players.” 

The Slytherin captain grumbled something under his breath. 

“Also, I wanted to try stealing Midoriya today, is he here?”

“He’s not.” 

Hadou’s image glimmered almost menacingly as she summoned a slow grin down the table at the spectators. There was some shuffling away from her. 

“We're going to die.” Kirishima whispered. 

“Shut up she can smell fear.” Bakugou hissed back. 

“Oh? They said that last time, too...but they just wanted to hog him for themselves…” she cooed.

Shouto would hog Midoriya to himself if he could but, “He’s really not here.” he said, and shook himself out of the previous thought. 

She pouted, the charm breaking and sinking under tight wraps. “Well, alright.” She threw a wink over her shoulder as she skipped away with a dour Amajiki in tow, “Make sure to drag Bakugou to the meeting tonight, Yaoyorozu.” 

“Of course, Hadou-senpai.” 

Several students sighed in relief. 

“Hadou-senpai is…” Kirishima began. 

“She’s very much suited for Head Girl, kero.” 

“I mean...yeah, but she’s kind of scary?” Ashido said. “Not angry Bakugou scary,” 

“Beautiful women are to be feared.” Tokoyami said solemnly. 

_ “Our brothers told me once,” Fuyumi had told him after a long day of training with Endeavor, “That he was always afraid of how beautiful mother is because they claim to have seen him flustered around her...unbelievable, isn’t it?” _

He still didn’t believe it. “Yaoyorozu, do you know her?” he asked. They typically knew the same people or heard the same names due to their upbringing, though Yaoyorozu would always be the better informed on the politics of things between families. 

Breakfast was ending and Shouto’s first class was a joint Herbology with the Ravenclaws. He downed his coffee and considered a second cup because there was some strange but good tension in the air whenever their Houses were in class. 

“Hadou-senpai? Not outside of Hogwarts, no. I would figure you would know her better than me, Todoroki-san.”

_ Hadou...Hadou...Nejire...Oh.  _ Hadou Nejire, the next Veela Queen. 

“You really should brush up on the family names, Todoroki-san.” She scolded gently. 

He poured another cup and threw it back black. “I think my old man didn’t bother drilling them into my head because he was confident you’d have them down.” 

Her cheeks coloured slightly and she lowered her voice, “Yes, well, I’m hoping it won’t have to come down to that.”

Shouto slumped his shoulders very slightly, “That’s hurtful.” 

“You’re not hurt.” She nudged him with her shoulder, smiling. “If he knew about Hadou-senpai do you think he’d change his mind?”

He was pretty sure Endeavor either didn’t care about the Veela bloodline or he really was afraid of it so he shook his head and looked at his longtime friend, “I hope not.” 

Yaoyorozu’s flushed brighter and she smacked him. “Geez, don’t do that, Todoroki-san -!”

“Are you okay? You look a little red -”

“I’m fine!” 

 

Without Midoriya, Shouto was alone. 

Really alone. He had been a transfer so it made sense that all the students had been paired off since the beginning of the school year and that the professors couldn’t add him to a group because of the number advantage, not that there were many group opportunities in classrooms in the first place so it wasn’t a problem at first…

Midoriya wasn’t back the next day and Shouto got lost trying to get to the Great Hall for breakfast by himself so he had to calm himself down before he quietly called for Eri to guide him. 

He could tell that she could tell that he was irritated but he couldn’t tell her why if she asked. “I’m sorry for calling you again, Eri.” he said evenly, as soft as he could bring himself to because Eri was a child and he was going to stamp down his feelings even if his elbow was icing over under his school robes. 

Eri’s smile was almost warm enough to melt the ice as she reached for his hand again. “Don’t be sorry.” 

Then… “Thank you, Eri.” 

“You’re very welcome!” 

_ Was that week enough to be considered a routine?  _ Everyone made habits from routines. Shouto had habits and he adjusted his routines to them very easily. Going from waking up at four in the morning to seven? An excellent change in habit that still gave him enough time to slowly wake up and get some stretching in; if he wanted to, he could wake up maybe an hour earlier and go flying or running, but he was still enjoying the extra hours of sleep to his schedule. Waking up to Midoriya outside of his door already showered and sometimes with the coffee ready? A good part of the new routine. Walking together with Midoriya who chattered and wondered about everything and had answers to the things Shouto asked about as long as it wasn't too Unspeakable? It was nice, yes, even though it cost Shouto a good mental map of his new school. So when his hardest class was Ancient Runes - that met once a week on Fridays - came along (the second day Midoriya was absent from Shouto’s newly developed routine), he might have been a little upset at how nothing made sense in the new lecture and how he didn't have a partner to toss ideas at. 

And it began to show. 

Professor Heap had a formula for them to work in groups during the break, “It won't be due until the week after we come back, but I highly suggest you work on it on your weeks off.” 

Shouto had been immediately paired with the solitary Midoriya when he had signed up for the class, so he was expected to be with him but - 

“Todoroki, you'll need to relay the formula to Midoriya but with his circumstances you may want to join another group as well -”

“Ooh! I'll take him, I'll take him~!” 

His blood chilled as he watched Hadou wave her hand in the air, her eyes blown and sparkling and  _ definitely up to something.  _

“Hadou? That could be good. You and Midoriya have worked well in the past, too.” 

Shouto met Yaoyorozu’s wide eyes with his own. She lowered her hand which had been on its way to volunteer her group as well but…

“Well, that was a surprise,” Yaoyorozu said during lunch. “I thought you and Hadou-senpai don't know each other?” 

“We’ve never spoken to each other except for yesterday.” He said, piling cold soba onto his plate. 

“Maybe she knows you through Fuyumi-san?” 

“Why would she know my sister?” 

Yaoyorozu sighed and shook her head. “Really, Todoroki-san, you should know -”

“Ah, look, All Might-sensei is back!” Hagakure pointed to the professor’s table with a gloved hand. 

Shouto was immediately out of his seat, soba forgotten.  _ Where is he?  _ He made his way up to the staff table. “Sensei,” 

“Todoroki-shounen! Hello, nice to see you, my boy. How are you?” All Might greeted sunnily as Shouto calmly, very calmly did his best to stomp down his Quirk from causing an indoor flurry  _ because he was calm.  _

_ Where is he?  _ “Is -”

“Todoroki, I heard you don't have afternoon classes.” A voice said from behind him. “We need to practice with everyone.”

Shouto turned an Evil Eye to Amajiki and barely had the patience to tilt his head respectively at his senior. 

The Slytherin Quidditch Captain was unfazed and had Sero, Tokoyami, and Asui drag Shouto away to the Quidditch field, which the Slytherins had reserved for the whole night. 

“Have a good practice, shounen, shoujo!” 

_ Where is he?  _

 

Quidditch practice was…

“Um...Todoroki? Can you cool it - haha, sorry, actually -” Sero flew several meters away, just outside of Shouto’s personal blizzard. “Are you okay?”

Shouto was  _ fine.  _ He’d been playing Quidditch for years, he can fly any broomstick with his eyes closed, he can fly all night if that's what Amajiki wanted. So what if he was mostly accidentally using his Quirk by venting his very unknown emotions through it? He was calm and every bludger incoming reminded him of Endeavor’s flames. 

_ “Faster, Shouto! You will never catch up to All Might like this!” _

He kind of missed Iida, who would have scolded him for using his Quirk in a magical space and expending energy when he could instead be looking for the snitch and dodging bludgers. 

“Adapt.” Amajiki barked, if someone could bark worriedly when Sero complained for the third time. “It could snow during tomorrow's game.”

Asui, who was weak to the winter season itself, groggily swatted at an incoming bludger, nearly hitting Tokoyami if not for Dark Shadow. “Sorry, kero!”

Otherwise, they flew really well together. Amajiki had good instructions and had placed people in positions that would overall benefit the team even if they weren't in their best places. “I know it might be a little uncomfortable with the sudden changes in roles, but you guys are all good in more than just one position, so believe in yourself a little.” 

“Are we really hearing that from you, Amajiki?” One of the sixth years snickered. 

Their captain promptly turned around and flew away, dismissing the practice with a final order of going to bed early. 

“If I were you, I would run,” Shinsou said when Shouto sat down for dinner. “I'm saying it because she scares the hell out of me but Hadou-senpai is looking for you now.” 

“I wouldn't bother if I were you.” Bakugou offered, surprisingly somber and with a darkly nervous expression. “She’ll find you anyway.” 

Incredibly unnerved, Shouto grabbed a yellow pear and promised Yaoyorozu that he'd find her either before or after the game tomorrow. 

He made his way to the hospital wing. 

And got lost. He was so lost he was sure he had missed the infirmary by a floor or three and was on the opposite side of the castle. He tried going back to the Great Hall and nearly fell into the dark hole that led to Merlin knows where when the staircase decided to vanish beneath his first step. 

_ What have I done,  _ Todoroki Shouto mourned.  _ To deserve this shit.  _ He could have sworn that he was never so bad at directions before. Hogwarts was probably a little sentient, sure, but it still had a basic layout and had better lit hallways than Durmstrang castle (not to mention probably less dangerous - although he had read in  _ Hogwarts, A History  _ that there used to be a basilisk in the basement). Had he really allowed himself to be blindly led around by Midoriya for nearly two weeks with little to no recollection of his surroundings? 

A quick look around him now at least told him that he was most likely on the seventh floor, so if he wandered long enough he'd either be found by the student patrol or a professor - but that was if he was out after curfew and he wasn't too keen on being lost for that long. 

The seventh floor corridors were longer with more turns than what Shouto usually went through for classes, so that really only proved that he was near Raven Tower. 

He wondered what his soulmate was doing. Shouto had initially grown up as a non-believer of things he couldn't see, so when he was eleven and the little pokes from his soulmate came around and the feelings that weren't his turned into marks and physical pain that weren't his...he could remember feeling relieved that he wasn’t quite as alone as he thought. 

Although...the little pokes weren't very little at all. 

The same way Muggles either didn't believe in magic or didn't know about it, soulmates fell in the the same boat. Books and scrolls were limited and nearly outlandish in the many theories. While magic could be explained, the sudden emergence of Quirks and the probability of having a soulmate remained to be great mysteries. 

It changed from time to time. One day he would feel immense joy, pride, shame, guilt, anger, sadness, or most disturbing of them all: a hollow ache which echoed in his own bones, and the next day he learned what it felt like to break both of his legs at the same time. Sometimes he’d get a nick on his finger and it would bleed maybe three drops before it closed up, and sometimes he felt the warm comfortable love around his shoulders. 

Did he love his soulmate? Well, no. Fated as they may be, Shouto wasn’t going to fall in love with a stranger, even if there was that one time when they had spoken in their thoughts. 

He sighed and looked for the secrets of the universe from the fruit in his hand.  _ When will I get to speak to you again?  _

_ “WHAT THE FUCK -”  _

Shouto dropped the pear and it bounced off of the stone floor as he pressed his palms to his ears to -futilely- block out the sudden screaming going off in his head. 

_ “-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OH MY GOD HELLO?!” _

_ What am I supposed to say back to -  _

_ “MERLIN’S FUCK WHY ARE YOU IN HERE HOW DID YOU GET  _ THROUGH?!” 

_ Get through what.  _ Shouto snapped thoughtfully and picking up his pear. Wait, who -  _ Are you a Legilimens?  _ No - his Occlumency was nearly unbreakable and it wasn’t broken through -

_ “Uh, no - You’re the Legilimens? What are you looking for? My shields are still up but you’re here and I can’t see you around me because there’s no one around here - oH MY GOD.” _

_ Oh my god.  _ A headache was coming. 

_ “Um, ow, is that you?”  _

_...Yeah, sorry. I can hear you screaming.  _

_ “Oh, wow, uh, wow! I’m actually screaming so I guess you can hear me scream or I’m screaming in the background of my thoughts that I’m...sending to you? Is there a filter on this thing oh Merlin I’m sweating.” _

Shouto was starting to feel a little hot, too, and maybe a little dizzy.  _ Must be because I skipped lunch and dinner.  _

_ “What! Why! That’s not good!”  _

_ There is no filter on this.  _

_ “You should be eating all your meals!”  _

_ I - uh. I have a pear.  _

_ “Please tell me you’re having something else besides just that.”  _

_ Get a grip.  _

_ “Um?!”  _

_ No,  _ he shook his head. This was difficult.  _ Me, get a grip.  _

_ “Are you okay?”  _

_ No.  _ Shouto went to the nearest wall and slid to the floor. There, he admitted it and if he had to be honest with himself, he was getting tired of saying he was fine.  _ I’m not.  _

_ “What’s wrong?”  _ There wasn’t really a voice that Shouto could place, but he definitely felt the surge of worrying.  _ “Did something happen?”  _

_ You...you’re my soulmate, right?  _

It was amazing, but he heard them laugh a little breathlessly and it was so very endearing.  _ “I would guess so. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”  _

_ I was just thinking about that last time. Four years ago?  _

_ “Yes. Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”  _

_ I don’t know. I’m kind of lost where I am right now because it’s a new place for me and I don’t know?  _ He really didn’t know and he hated not knowing why he was like this when he could be pestering his soulmate for things about themselves instead of him wallowing in his - 

_ “Is there a way for you to find your way back?”  _

_ I think I can call someone for help but I’m honestly not sure if she sleeps or not. I don’t want to bother her when it’s so late.  _

_ “You might not be a bother at all.”  _ they said soothingly. 

Shouto thought back to his interactions with the sweet little Eri and almost fully believed them just from that.  _ You’re probably right.  _

_ “And the other part?”  _

_ What other part?  _

_ “Besides eating something else besides that pear tonight, the other thing that’s bothering you?” _

_ You don’t let up.  _

Another breeze of beautiful laughter.  _ “I get that every now and then. Why don’t you tell me what led up to the other thing?”  _

Did something lead up to him being irritable? The other night he had been part of rescue in another school that he was no longer the student of but he was sure he was supposed to keep that a secret.  _ You’re not seeing what I’m thinking are you?  _

_ “ _ Seeing?  _ I didn’t see anything, no. Is that possible? Here, I’m thinking of...a big ginkgo tree in the middle of a lake, with snowdrops around the base.”  _

Shouto almost blacked out from the shift in his vision, as the cold stone beneath him turned to cool green and the white flowers sprang up in all directions. It was autumn and it was cool and golden under the shade of the ginkgo. He might have imagined the warmth of the sun and the breeze of the blue sky reflected on the surface of silver waters. 

_ “Are you okay?! What happened?!”  _

His throat was dry as the field faded and he was sure he would have passed out if he had been standing.  _ I saw it.  _

_ “Oh! Wow for some reason I didn’t think it would? Did you like it?”  _

_ Yes, it was beautiful, thank you. It was kind of strong.  _

_ “Strong?”  _

_ Yeah. Like it jumped out of nowhere.  _

_ “That’s interesting! It’s a special place for me.”  _

_ I see.  _

_ “I wish I could take you there one day.”  _

_ Oh.  _ Oh, his heart did a funny thing. 

_ “Sorry! Was that weird? It’s just that I uh - I guess yeah it’s weird hearing that from someone you don’t know anything about and can suddenly hear in your head haha.”  _

_ It’s not exactly weird.  _ Shouto tried to what, think, defensively, in his soulmate’s defense, and Merlin, he was speaking to his soulmate.  _ It’s just nice and I’m not sure what to say. And I don’t exactly know nothing about you.  _

_ “What?!”  _

_ You’re a Japanese wizard.  _

_ “I’M - I’M UH.”  _

_ Please give me some credit.  _ Shouto leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.  _ It’s not like I can pick out your voice from a crowd because I can’t really describe your voice right now? But you’re definitely using boku and earlier you mentioned Legilimency.  _

_ “You really are something.”  _

Shouto bit into the pear to distract himself from...dying, probably.  _ I met someone.  _

_ “Should I be jealous?”  _

He choked.  _ Uh...I’m...not...No? _

_ “I’m just kidding! Please continue.”  _

_ I don’t think I want to.  _

_ “Please!”  _ and who was Shouto to say no? 

So Shouto told his soulmate about how he met Midoriya by knocking the poor guy from a tree that was out of season not even two weeks ago, and that wasn’t even why his life was so different right now.  _ My dad’s still a piece of shit, by the way.  _

_ “I promise I’ll punch him in the face one day.”  _

_ You make a lot of promises to someone you don’t even know.  _

_ “I’ll promise you everything.”  _

_ Oh.  _

_ “Sorry! Oh god that was awful I’m sorry.”  _

_ You’re quite...romantic.  _

_ “Um, yes? I don’t get the chance very often so! I-I’m going for it!”  _

Shouto told them about his new roommate and Midoriya’s many secrets but,  _ He’s amazing - Are you screaming?  _

The faint pitch stopped abruptly.  _ “I’ve stopped. I’m sorry, please continue.”  _

He reached the core of his pear and took out his wand to vanish the remains.  _ I’m not really sure how to keep going. He had to go away for something and ever since he’s been gone I’ve been -  _

There it was. 

_ I guess I’ve been lonely.  _ Which didn’t make sense in Shouto’s case, not really. He had been alone for so long that he hardly ever felt like  _ this _ .  _ I don’t understand.  _

_ “What do you not understand?”  _

_ I’m used to being alone.  _

_ “You shouldn’t be.”  _

_ That means a lot. Thank you.  _ And he meant it because maybe they were right. Shouto was well aware that he didn’t exactly have a good childhood, if it could even be called a proper one at all, but he had just learned to accept his circumstance the way he learned to roll his landings when he took one of Endeavor’s punches because another was already coming. 

_ “I have to go. Call someone to take you back.”  _

No.  _ Where are you going?  _ Dread slithered between his ribs, trailed its way to his heart. 

_ “I have to go.”  _

_ How can you go?  _ How can they go, why would they go? Had Shouto said something?

_ “Promise me you’ll take care of yourself.” _

_ Wait - _

_ “Shouto, please trust me.”  _

They knew his name.  _ How did you -  _

_ “Please promise me.”  _

_ I can’t.  _ He couldn’t. How could he? 

_ “Try.”  _ No. 

He didn’t know how long he had been there, practically stranded on the seventh floor. He was so unprepared. He wasn’t ready to - to just let them go, without explanation, without a  _ name - Who are you? I can find you -  _ He could look for them, finally, if he had a name he could -

_ “I can’t. Not now. Please take care of yourself.”  _

_ Wait, please -  _

_ “I’m glad we got to talk again...I’ve missed you, Shouto. I promise we’ll speak again.”  _

It had been a while since the silence was so deafening. 

 

It was like staring at the face of a dam after thinking that a wall of glass could hold back all the water he had poured in himself. 

Izuku had a lot of things to do, some things to fix, more than too many things to write down and plan for the future.  _ I absolutely cannot fail.  _

There wasn’t a way to keep track of time while he was in this room, his room, in the Department of Mysteries. There wasn’t a way to keep track of what enchantments lifted off of him as well. He had quite a few layered on top of one another, some which he had weaved onto his aura himself, some which he had asked others to place because he had been too weak to do so, and he was sure there was at least one or two which hadn’t been lifted off of him in years. The soulmate block, for example, was one of the stronger ones which his self-inflicted  _ obliviate  _ should have kept back, but the memory had surfaced like...like a pear in a river. 

Izuku wished he had a way to send food up to the tower.  _ Maybe I can send a Patronus to All Might to do it... _ but how would he do that without letting Todoroki know that Izuku knew he hadn’t eaten? 

_ Gods, I called him Shouto.  _

Izuku groaned and wrapped his arms around his head, deeply embarrassed. He hadn’t expected for the connection to open up so clearly - it was almost like Todoroki had been right next to him, except his voice -  _ Merlin, his voice _ , was crystal and soft and summer in his head. It must be the room, which allowed Izuku most of his memories that he himself had requested to be suppressed all those years ago, under a carefully modified  _ obliviate  _ of his creation...though had consequently passed through the soulmate bond and affected Todoroki in a different way, which would explain why Todoroki had passed out when Izuku had mentioned a memory was tied to Mahoutokoro. He would have to alter both the modified  _ obliviate  _ and the soulmate block so that he wouldn’t constantly forget that he was living with the person the cosmos had chosen for him. The soulmate block was one of Izuku’s first spellcrafts, the product of a year of travel and research everywhere.  _ Everywhere.  _ It was supposed to completely deter the soulmate link - though with Izuku’s potency it wasn’t entirely effective and with recent events there was the possibility that it would have worn down with Todoroki in close quarters. He was an inexperienced wizard when he managed to write down a way to explain the spell theory to someone who did have the power and experience - which was Gran Torino, who he really owed a lot to. It was an essential, necessary evil to which Izuku could only hope Todoroki forgave him for when it was all done, when everything fell into place...but for now, this was for the best. 

It was why he was here, after all. 

It was why he was allowed this life. 

 

_ What if they were in danger?  _ Shouto bolted up from his futon, heart racing in panic as his mind and body haphazardly tried to wake up together only for Shouto to squeeze his eyes shut and flop back down onto his pillows. He took deep breaths. It was no use trying to go back to sleep after that so he lifted his gaze to the enchanted ceiling anyway, which probably showed dawn. 

After the admittedly heartbreaking mental farewell from his soulmate, Shouto had stood still in the hallway for a long time to collect himself.  _ They’re more secretive than Midoriya. _ He had thought before calling Eri. It took a minute, which was the longest time it had ever taken her to respond to his request. She had come from around the corner, sleepy and confused but had nonetheless given him a smile and led him back to the tower by the hand.

The empty living room reminded him of his newly acquired knowledge that he was indeed, lonely.  _ How childish.  _ So lonely that it had affected his actions and destabilized his Quirk because of his unsettled emotion. 

_ “Be better, Shouto. How can you even hope to surpass All Might like this!” _

It was good to know but it didn’t really make him feel any better. What was a little bizarre was that he wasn’t lonely because he had been missing the prodding through the soulmate connection which let him know that they were at least alive, instead he had been lonely because of Midoriya. 

_ No, it makes a lot of sense that it’s because of someone like Midoriya.  _ Their classmates were a little less boisterous and there would be eyes on or next to Shouto to look for their friend. Midoriya tied them all together, even Shouto, with just a handful of words.

_ Hey, I don’t know if you can still hear me.  _ Shouto folded up his blankets and futon.  _ But good morning, even though you just ditched me last night. I’m kind of mad about it, but I’ll forgive you...later, in the future.  _ He felt silly, a little bit, but good because it took some sort of effort to make that thought into a message instead of just thinking it to himself. He hoped it reached them. 

Shouto was lonely because he missed Midoriya, yes, but he liked to believe that he would never lose his soulmate. 

 

Todoroki’s voice was very clear. It surprised Izuku enough to jump in the air and drop the book in his hands.  _ I thought I fixed that.  _

...No response...so his thoughts probably didn’t go across the connection, and he had only felt Todoroki’s presence on the line very briefly? Maybe Izuku’s tweaking had made a gated bridge and Todoroki hadn’t meant to send it -  _ No, he meant for me to hear it.  _ Izuku laughed to himself and wondered if he should allow the little contacts. What could it hurt?  _ A lot. It could hurt a lot.  _

_ You’re really something, Todoroki-kun.  _ What morning was it? The second or the third? Typically Izuku would be locked up in his room until he was confident in his alterations or until All Might begged the Minister to let him drag his successor out of the Department. Izuku tried his best to finish up quickly after the third time, when All Might had opened the wrong door and had been severely scolded by the Unspeakables of Space. Which, reminded him...he really ought to put a clock in here. 

Maybe he can borrow one from next door.

 

Yaoyorozu was one of his favourite people. They had grown up similarly - not the part where they got beat up from dawn to dusk and had burn marks and scars to show for it for the rest of their lives, no - but in the way that they had grown up in a large household by themselves and had to learn to befriend silence. When he met her for breakfast, she didn’t serve him like she would have to at a family breakfast, but she did pass him the fruit platter and the coffee pot. 

“You should have some bread, too, Todoroki-san, for the game.” She suggested because she knew he wouldn’t be eating until after the match. She didn’t pretend to know Shouto completely, or very much at all, but she had tried her best to pay attention to the little things, and that was another thing they had in common from their upbringing. 

_ “The Yaoyorozu have a daughter with a good Quirk. I expect you -”  _

Shouto left the honeydew on the platter and pushed it back to her, because she liked honeydew with her tea in the mornings. He grabbed a croissant and waved it at her. 

She beamed. “Thank you.” 

They ate in silence until they were joined by their classmates at the table, though the ones playing that afternoon stayed in bed until the last hour. 

It was during the game against the Hufflepuffs that Shouto realized he was at a disadvantage. He had never watched any of the other teams play and frankly didn’t know how many Quirks were going to be tried in the air. Togata was the Hufflepuff captain and seeker, and he was  _ fast _ . Shouto had trouble following Togata with his eyes as the blonde zipped in between and  _ through  _ people and turrets and bludgers - Shouto dodged one as it flew past Togata and straight for his face.  _ A phasing Quirk?  _

Amajiki looked oddly composed though he seemed to have no trouble keeping track of every member in the sky, giving orders when something came too quickly for anybody else to see. Every time Shouto thought he would be knocked over by someone or crowded by the Hufflepuffs, Amajiki already had a countermeasure.  _ Adapt.  _ Excellent, Amajiki’s voice was in his head.  _ Better than Endeavor’s.  _

Yamada Hizashi was commentating and shivering with his Quirk or perhaps a light  _ sonorus _ . “Uraraka Ochako blocks! You go, girl! I’m rooting for you!  _ Yeah!” _

“Don’t be so biased,” Aizawa grumbled into a microphone. “Look, Tokoyami is barely letting any goals through with Dark Shadow.”

Shouto tried staying out of everyone’s way and merely watched the game from above for a little bit. It was a good day for flying, a little too windy and a lot of people in the stands looked pretty miserable to be out in the cold, but it couldn’t have been too bad. 

“Just chilling out, Todoroki?” Togata said. 

“Togata-senpai,” Shouto nodded. “I’m strategizing. Like you are.” 

Togata laughed. “Figured me out, have you?” 

“You’ve been looking for the snitch, but you’re mostly making the Slytherins nervous with how fast you’re going around while I fly still.” 

“You got me!” 

“Hufflepuff is quickly racking up points! You better be scared, Slytherin!” Present Mic cried.

“And this is where you start doing your thing, huh?” Togata grinned. 

Shouto frowned. “Are you underestimating me?” 

Togata shook his head. “Not really my style to. I don’t plan on holding back is all.”

It winked at him from below.

Shouto dove down, sure that Togata was either following him or had caught sight of the golden ball. It was hard to follow as it flittered close to the Hufflepuff players, their yellow robes almost a camouflage. Togata’s shadow cast over him -

“Release!” 

“Sero, kero-kero girl!” Amajiki shouted, tape and Asui’s tongue shooting above Shouto’s head to catch the bludgers that went  _ through  _ Togata’s form. 

“Call me Tsuyu, kero.”    
“Nice try, Uraraka!” Sero crowed. 

Jirou stole the bludger from Sero with her plugs and threw it up for Ojiro to jump off of his broomstick and smack it down with his tail. 

Shouto lost sight of the snitch as he did a sharp left to avoid getting blown off of his broomstick. 

Behind him, Hufflepuff scored another goal and Dark Shadow whimpered. 

Togata sped past. Shouto trailed the blonde, summoning his Quirk. The snitch was flittering right in front of them. Shouto brushed the end of Togata’s broom, gaining speed to wrap his hand around the golden ball - 

“Todoroki freezes and weighs down Togata’s broom! SLYTHERIN HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! THEY WIN what a bummer.” 

“ _ Oi _ .” 

The Slytherins teased their captain for saving Togata when the Hufflepuffs had all stopped what they were doing to dive for their captain. 

“I was the closest!” 

“You're always the closest to Togata, aren't you!”

Togata laughed loudly. “They're right!” 

“Good job, Todoroki!” Sero exclaimed. 

Several hands were patting him on the back as the teams filed back into the castle, some a little harder than others. 

“If only I had knocked you down!” Uraraka pouted. 

“Wait, wait, Jirou? Ojiro - you two could have killed Todoroki with that combo!” Sero admonished. 

Jirou groaned. “The three of us have been practicing that all week! Amajiki-senpai wasn't supposed to notice Ochako so Ojiro and I lost time.” 

“You're not denying that you could have killed him.” Tokoyami pointed out. 

After a lot of streamers from wand tips and shouting and congratulations, Shouto was finally freed to return to the tower, where Yuki sat at the back of one of the dining room chairs. She hooted softly when he gave her a treat before she flew off. 

There was a small stack of letters for Midoriya at the table which Shouto had piled to the side of the snowdrop flower. He only had one letter from Fuyumi, who insisted that he come home to her place for the winter break and that he already had a few letters waiting for him there. 

 

_ Shouto,  _

_ I hope you aren't thinking of staying at the castle for break! I'm lonely and I could use your help around the cafe. Besides, it's been so long since we’ve spent time together and...well, I can't let you go back there either. There must have been a few who have assumed that you'd be staying with me, which makes me happy. A letter from father, of course, is here, most likely to demand your presence. There are some invitations here as well...one from Hadou-sama? I'm glad to see that you're making friends, Shouto. Tenya and a Midoriya also -  _

 

Shouto stopped reading and began packing right away, barely keeping the folding spells steady as he packed his trunks. He missed his sister, he did - they were the closest of the siblings not only because of age, but in time spent together in the Todoroki estate which they had foolishly used to call home. 

A letter from Hadou perturbed him but...he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't going to Fuyumi’s house as fast as he could so that the first thing he would do was tear Midoriya’s letter open.

 

_ -have sent you letters! Midoriya is new, aren't they? I want to meet them so be sure to invite them and Tenya and Momo over for the break!  _

 

_ Love, Fuyumi _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear reader, did you notice that my updates have gone between two weeks to three weeks? If you did, then I'm sorry! I wanted to implement many things in the last two especially so that's there's movement in plot as I'm world building, so the word counts are still up there, though I wish I could give more! 
> 
> HELLO BIG THREE AND WELCOME THE ERI INTERACTIONS I love all these kids, oh boy when I write them.  
> I am doing my best with Harry Potter world research and breathing life on to the BNHA characters, so I hope they're coming across to you guys in a good way!
> 
> my twitter/tumblr: @ empress_matcha


	6. Merriment, or Be Glam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Footsteps. Hurried and light, out of place with Izuku’s schedule to come down this hall. He tensed as the stranger slowed their pace, not even two metres from the moonlight that would have revealed them. But the guard would be coming their way soon, and Izuku hadn’t been attacked yet, so he went forward, wandlessly casting a night vision charm.
> 
> Was he surprised? Yes. But also, no, not really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Still December uwu
> 
> NO IT'S NOT SEASON THREE IN A FEW DAYS!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

On the first Monday morning of break, the Japanese Heroes who had come to Hogwarts to teach (and monitor the children as Aurors) returned to their home country with happy sighs and carrying briefcases full of papers to grade and meeting minutes stuffed between tea snacks and energy bars. 

“I'm so tired of tea snacks!” Present Mic cried, really cried on Monday afternoon. “Somebody better be bringing Christmas yummies to this meeting.”

“The Principal always brings snacks for the meetings.” Toshinori offered.

Present Mic smacked his head on the table with a groan of pain unrelated to his newly acquired head injury. “Knowing him he's going to bring Christmas tea cookies.” 

Midnight nudged the door open. “Oh, you two are early!”

“Hey, Nemuri! I've been in Japan since last night!  _ What do you have there?”  _

“Whiskey chocolates!” She took a seat to his left. “The soon to be main house sent them over for the holidays -”

“Nemuri, I love you -” 

She slapped his hand away as it reached for the box. “You wait until everyone gets here.”

“‘Soon to be main house’?” Toshinori asked. “You mean from Hadou?” 

“Yes, Nejire-chan sent them to every household! So sweet!” 

“Should minors be sending alcoholic chocolates?” Aizawa grumbled from the door. “Mic, I can hear you all the way from the gate - how do you have so much energy? Didn't you Portkey in early last night so you can do your radio show?” 

“ _ Yeah _ , I want to die!”

“Nejire-chan turned seventeen last year and she only sent them to the Veela families.”

The room seemed the to recall Hadou’s capabilities as they turned their eyes to the only Veela in the room. 

“Uh, it's not like I don't trust the little vampire Queen -” Present Mic began. 

“Veela.” Toshinori corrected. “However, with Hadou’s potions scores…” 

“Will those kill non-Veela?” Aizawa said plainly.

Midnight rolled her eyes. “She has perfect scores all across the board.” 

“That's why we’re afraid.” Present Mic pointed out. “What if one of them have a surprise inside?” 

“The future first seat of the Veela court didn't send out poisonous kinder eggs..! She would have left a note!”

 

“Shouto!” 

He froze, slowly poking his head out of the fireplace to quickly sweep the tables with his eyes. “What if I had customers in here?” There weren’t, of course, and his sister tried to keep a stern expression. “I forgot this fireplace was still connected to the Floo! Who did you bother to get here so fast?” 

He gave her a little frown, so close to being a pout. “There’s no one here.” 

“I’m the one who would’ve had to  _ obliviate  _ them, you know.” 

Shouto’s shoulders fell. “Did you want me to come here or not?” 

Fuyumi laughed and pulled her dearest brother out of the fireplace, brushing soot (where it came from, she didn’t know...she hadn’t lit this fireplace since last year) off of his robes.  _ He's getting so tall.  _ “I’m glad you didn’t decide to sulk in that castle for the next couple of weeks.” Not that she’d allow for him to spend the holidays in that castle anyway. 

“I try not to sulk for extended periods of time.” 

“You just came here for your letters.” She teased, clearly not believing him. 

 

Midoriya Izuku had a lot to worry about. This wasn’t new and really, he was always just going to have something to worry about. At the moment it was the faculty meeting, where the UA instructors and himself sat with a whiskey chocolate in front of them, all eyes on Midnight and Toshinori as they unwrapped their pieces. 

“I’m not very confident I can heal poison…” Izuku said.  _ Where did I put my bezoars? Why isn't Chiyo-baasan here yet?   _ “And should All Might really be the one to try this?”

“I’m saying it’s not poisonous at all. All Might is the only one who believes me.” Midnight said, biting into the chocolate. Her cheeks immediately flushed and she coughed. 

“Oh gods,  _ she’s dying!”  _ Present Mic cried. 

“No!” She took three large gulps of the steaming tea (courtesy of the Principal) on her desk. “It’s really strong - wait, All Might!”

Toshinori had eaten it whole. 

“Wake me up when the meeting starts,” Aizawa grumbled, pulling out his sleeping bag as the room erupted. “Or if someone dies.”

 

Todoroki Shouto had a lot to worry about. He tried really hard not to worry for long...but his problems preferred to stick around or pop up in mysterious, truly unnecessary ways. He had burned the letter from Endeavor without even reading it (in the fireplace, not with his Quirk). Yaoyorozu had sent an owl with a letter similar to Iida’s, a request that the three of them see each other at least once during the break. Hadou had sent an invitation to the main house for Shouto and if he would like, his sister as well.

“Nejire-chan sent that along with those.” Fuyumi pointed to a purple box on the bar counter. “They’re whiskey chocolates.”

Though he had rushed the international Floo connection to Aizawa (who looked as though he would have preferred a Quirk that Erased things from existence besides Quirks) so that he could read Midoriya’s letter, it remained unopened, shrunken in his pocket. 

The invitation was for tea on Tuesday afternoon so Fuyumi couldn’t go and Shouto couldn’t refuse. 

_ Not an invitation. A summons.  _

So that was how he found himself dressed by Fuyumi in casual (subtly fancy) clothes lined with royal blue that looked pretty on the black silk, and sent off by taxi to the Hadou estate with a box of jasmine tea flavoured cookies Fuyumi had baked herself that morning.  

Fuyumi had wisely chosen to open her cafe several towns away from the Todoroki estate and in the middle of a quiet though bustling Tokyo ward. Shouto knew she had done it more for him rather than herself. She had taught children for a while (along with a few other odd jobs), saving up money to take them all away from Endeavor’s oppressive roof, and had been sad to let go of her teaching job to open up a store that could support their family away from him. She had never said it out loud, but she had given up so much and tried her best to protect her siblings - and when they had put together the plan to spirit their mother away, a year ago...Fuyumi had been the one who had reached out every string they had to bring it all in -

_ We haven’t really spoken since then.  _

Their family had very few words between each other. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket, from Yaoyorozu:  Good luck with your meeting with Hadou-senpai today. Be nice! I'm sure she only wants to talk.  It wasn't the reply he wanted when he had texted her that morning asking if she wanted any of his books after his funeral appointment. Shouto did not actually believe that he was going to be in immediate danger (magic always lingered), but he was rather confident that he was at least going to be able to read Midoriya’s letter. 

Later. 

In the afterlife. 

The rumors about Hadou, from the Ravenclaws and from Bakugou’s haunted mumbling...It was best to be prepared for anything.

The taxi drove down a long road with one side a continuous marble-like wall with flecks of seashell-like veins blooming faintly like illusions, until they reached the high columns on either side of large gates where Hadou awaited. 

It was beginning to snow.

“Hadou-senpai,” he bowed his head, offering the cookies. 

She took them eagerly. “Todoroki! I was getting worried you wouldn't show!” She chirped. “It's good to see you, thank you for accepting my invitation.” She said politely, though her eyes glimmered. “Come in, I will prepare the tea.” 

 

“-we have most if not all materials and resources prepared for the next several months, all we need is the cooperation and permission of the affected parties.” Nedzu said.

Izuku sighed as he wrapped his hands around a warm cup of tea. It was hot enough to be almost painful on his cold fingers. 

“Midnight, Recovery Girl, and I suppose Midoriya-kun, are we allowed to discuss the issue concerning the Todoroki family?” 

“It's being handled.” Midnight said. “The details are sensitive and not open for public discussion. There are enough outsiders as it is, including us.” 

“Sensitive” didn’t even cut it. Izuku had accidentally thrown in more than a leg into the Veela politics, an arm into the Todoroki family problem that he wasn’t exactly an outsider anymore. And, Hadou had wrangled a favour out of him, months ago and still unclaimed. 

The Todoroki matriarch was fine, for the most part. A little shaken by the news of her children rebelling against Endeavor by sending Aurors his way, but had been composed and kind to Izuku for their brief meeting, if that. 

Nedzu nodded in understanding. “Then we’ll trust that it all works out. We’ll move on to the next item on the agenda then: training the students. From what we gathered from Midoriya-kun’s intel, we’ve made the changes to assure the safety of the students, and have avoided and caught many risk factors...however, it has led to the relocation of too many and we’re really hoping that the next move will be one of the last.” 

“We’ve arranged a time with the new Minister of Magic in Britain once they step into power next year, though we’re not sure how they’ll react to all the ‘favours’ that we need.” Present Mic said. “I’ll do what needs to be done. I’m sure I can work something out with the new Minister.” Izuku said. 

Present Mic groaned with his face in his hands.  “I hate moving - let’s not talk about it.”

“We’re supposed to be talking about training them.” Thirteen pointed out. 

“I'm still not sure I am quite qualified for the position -” Toshinori spoke up.

“Oh don't be so down on yourself, All Might.” Nedzu waved a Christmas tea cookie. “You might just learn something about yourself while teaching the new generation. And if you're worried about your time limit, well, Midoriya-kun, what do you think?” 

Izuku smiled. “I'll be in the class, too, All Might, so your time limit won't be an issue unless I'm out.” 

“If you can promise to be in that class then why can't you attend mine?” Aizawa glared, eyes flashing. 

“Mine, too!” Present Mic said indignantly. 

Izuku held up his hands with a nervous, defensive chuckle. “Ah, ha...I'm sorry! I'm doing my best!” 

“Don't tease him,” Midnight admonished. “Midoriya-kun’s grades are as flawless as Nejire-chan’s.” 

“You'll make a fine teacher, All Might.” Nedzu reassured. “As long as you make time for the students and the plan in the middle of your busy schedule - oh, my, the time!” 

They all pulled out their watches, synced to match down to the very second. 

Toshinori hacked. “Midoriya-shounen, we’re so very late!” He and Izuku stood up in panic. “I apologize, everyone, I hadn't thought of how long the meeting could go -”

Several of them made shooing motions with their hands. 

“Go, go! Sir is going to have a cow if you keep him waiting too long!” Midnight insisted, though she grinned. 

“That's not funny!” Toshinori paled, rushing Izuku out the door. 

“You had better think of something funny before you get there, then!” Present Mic called. 

Before the crack of Toshinori’s Apparation, Izuku heard Aizawa mutter, “They're going to have a rough time.” 

 

Shouto was having a rough time. 

Hadou came back with the promised tray of hot tea and the cookies he had brought. “Please take a cup.” she said, setting the tray on the table between them, carefully folding her legs under her long skirt. Her glamour barely shifted. 

“Thank you for the tea.” 

“You’re welcome. It was thoughtful of Fuyumi-chan to send you along with these.”

Would it be rude to ask how she did it? “What did you want to talk about?” 

“Straight to the point? That's fine with me,” she took a long sip. “There are several things which I would like to address today. First, is congratulations on being part of the project, this is for you.” She handed him a letter sealed with the golden UA insignia. “Next, is about your mother.” 

Shouto’s eyes shot up from the letter to Hadou. “My mother?”

“Yes.” She lowered her gaze to her cup, a small frown on her lips. “You seem surprised. I'm the next in line for the throne, you know. Everything is reported to me eventually, though I was very disappointed to hear about this so late.” She admitted. “Do you know who the current Queen is, now?”

Shouto shook his head. “I know little of Veela...society rules, I apologize.” 

Hadou waved a hand. “No, it's nothing to apologize for. It's understandable. Veela males are very few and aren't as versed in our society as the large amount of females.” 

“The Queen is our sov -” 

The door to the room slid open, revealing Amajiki and Togata in casual clothes, the latter wearing a big sheepish grin. 

“Sorry to interrupt!” Togata said. “We just wanted some cookies. Hey, Todoroki!” 

“Senpai.” Shouto blinked. “Have you been here this whole time?” 

“We weren’t eavesdropping, no. But we’re spending the break here!” 

“Ah.” 

Amajiki stole some cookies from the tray with a mumbled excuse as he closed the door.

Hadou giggled behind her hand. “I’m sorry for their interruption. But yes,  with the title is a ceremony which grants the Queen gifts, one is that her word cannot be broken, amongst others,” The minute Amajiki and Togata had spent with them seemed to have relaxed her a little, but her voice remained polite. “I was visiting the current Queen in the hospital when I saw Recovery Girl and Midnight and another Veela woman. The hospital itself is not well-known and is far away from the public, but they had been in the Queen’s private wing.” She said. “It seems that they were friends, the Queen and your mother. I've never seen the Queen so angry and worried, Midnight didn't have a chance to resist her word when she asked why they were all there.” She bowed her head. “I apologize for intruding on your family matters,” she said quietly. 

That couldn’t be all. 

“You called specifically for me, even though my sister is the active Veela in our house _. _ ” 

Hadou took a cookie. “Kind of, yes. As candidate, I have a little power below the Queen...like a right hand, I suppose, and with our current Queen’s health, most things are already under my realm.” She snapped it in half. “I'm quite bitter about the situation. Fuyumi-chan and I are friends. I wish she had told  _ me  _ instead of Midnight.” Her bottom lip jutted out a little. “Not to mention, it's very clear that she protects her family from all harm, no matter the cost.

“I want a favour.” 

Instant alarms went off. “What sort of favour?” 

She shrugged. “I just need to secure one from either you or Fuyumi-chan.”

He frowned. “Can you be a little bit more specific?” 

“Nope.” She said. “I may never call for the favour, ever, but I like to be prepared. I don’t need a promise now - go speak to Fuyumi-chan about this, decide together, and tell me what you come to.

“In the meantime, I can promise you that your mother is safe where she is, on my word as next in line. And, my offer in return for a favour promised by you or Fuyumi-chan...” 

Shouto was sent back to Fuyumi’s cafe in one of Hadou’s cars, where he opened Midoriya’s letter.

 

_ Todoroki-kun,  _

_ I hope this letter reaches you well! Sorry I was away for the rest of the week...work had me staying behind at the Ministry that by the time I got to check the time, the week was over, so I hope you found your way around fine. And! I hope you didn't go up in the garden! It's dangerous up there, I'm not sure if I warned you!  _

_ By the way, Hadou-senpai may be reaching out to you. Recovery Girl mentioned something about Veela politics and seeing her and the Queen at the hospital they moved your mother to - I'm not entirely sure what's up, but I trust Hadou-senpai!  _

_ I hope you have a good break!  _

 

_ See you soon,  _

_ Midoriya Izuku  _

 

He tore open the letter he received from Hadou, and was surprised to find it in Midoriya’s writing. 

 

_ Todoroki Shouto,  _

_ Congratulations and my warmest welcome to you, to the UA Project. The project consists of wizards and witches currently attending (though not limited to) the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who wish to take the path of becoming a hero. We are new and small, with a mix of mostly first years (fifth year Hogwarts students) and three third years (seventh year Hogwarts students).  _

_ We don't have many opportunities to actually meet and fulfill a real hero course despite our attempts. We are a work in progress.  _

_ So we, the UA staff, invite all students of the UA Project to the following Spring Festival which will be held on the UA campus where you will be able to display your skills in front of the country and pro hero agencies, with and against attending UA school students.  _

_ To prepare for this, we highly recommend attending our mock battle at the end of this month, December 31st. Attached is a schedule for training at the UA school grounds for training during the break, they are not mandatory as the planning was last minute, however, they will be very helpful.  _

_ Go beyond! Plus Ultra! _

 

_ UA Project student coordinator,  _

_ Midoriya Izuku  _

 

The schedule consisted of training every day starting the following day at six in the morning until five in the afternoon, some blocks revealed instructors while others remained blank. There was a two-day break for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and then practices again until the 29th, the 30th written in as a rest day, Sundays were free as well. 

By the time Shouto waved the Hadou family car off and entered the cafe that evening, it was past eight and Fuyumi had several customers. He was useless with making any of the things she offered at the cafe so he couldn't help - 

Fuyumi waggled her eyebrows towards the piano. 

Shouto rolled his eyes and snuck upstairs. He was halfway writing a reply to Iida when he heard the cafe bells ringing and Fuyumi thanking customers. The letter unfinished, he set the quill in its place and went downstairs to help his sister close up shop. 

“How was Nejire-chan’s?” 

He hadn’t been gone for more than three hours, so there wasn’t much for him to say. “Her charm control is driving me crazy. I’m not exactly sure what it is that I’m looking at.” 

Fuyumi chuckled. “Your eyes are sensitive to glamours, so I’m not surprised. Her bloodline is only one generation older and ‘purer’ than ours but her charm control is outstanding.” 

“Can you see it?” 

“Hmm, sometimes.” 

“That makes sense. Your eyes are the best.” 

“Thank you, little brother.” She said proudly. “I do my best to  _ look out  _ for you.” 

_ You’d get along with Midoriya.  _ “...Please stop.” He told her that Hadou had liked the cookies, had seen their mother at the hospital, had told him that their mother was once a candidate for the throne, and had asked for a favour from either of them without knowing what would be asked for. 

“What did she offer?” 

Something he wasn’t sure he wanted. “Are you two friends?” he asked instead. 

“Yes, Nejire-chan and I are the youngest Veela representatives. We’ve spent time together outside of meetings.” 

“She sounds like she knows you pretty well.” 

Fuyumi’s smile was a little sad, a little forced. 

When he went up to go to sleep that night, he realized that Fuyumi had looked a lot like their mother. 

 

Sir Nighteye was not happy when Izuku and Toshinori Apparated into the foyer. 

“You’re ten minutes la -”

“We’re very sorry, Nighteye -” Toshinori cut in. “The meeting was running longer than we had planned -” 

“The party is this weekend, we’ve already delayed so many things.” Nighteye snapped. “I don’t even want to look at the future to see if we’ll have everything ready -” he turned his gaze to Izuku. “Hurry along to the main hall and get your measurements first, Midoriya. I can tackle at least  _ some  _ things with All Might so that we can stop wasting time -” 

Izuku did a mock salute and offered a large, apologetic grin. “Yes, Sir!” 

Nighteye smiled. 

After their measurements, entree tasting, speaking with the banquet hall decorators, creating schedules, picking out the tablecloths, readjusting the table sizes and quantities, and practicing his wandless charms, Izuku was finally able to sit down.

“How's the cake, Midoriya-shounen?” 

It was not to relax but to tackle the next thing on Nighteye’s list of things to do. 

Izuku swallowed. “I don't know if it's because of all the raspberry in the one before but it's surprisingly fruity.” 

“It probably has some wine in there, it's tiramisu,” Nighteye said. “We can consider it as an option, but the cheesecake was also very good -” 

“What about the shortcake?” Toshinori asked, holding up a plate. 

It may have been the time, the long day, the twenty cakes laid out on the dining table, or pure delirium but Izuku glanced at the strawberry shortcake’s red and white colours, and laughed. 

_ I miss -  _

Nighteye jotted something down on his clipboard. “Definitely the shortcake.” 

_ Get a grip.  _

At five thirty the following morning, Toshinori stumbled into Izuku’s room, with half a leg in his yellow suit pants, shouting, “Midoriya-shounen,  _ the UA practices start today!”  _

_ Shit. Shit shit - _ Izuku fell to the floor on his elbow. “ _ Shit - _ ” 

“Language, shounen!” Toshinori’s voice called as the man was hounded by Nighteye’s voice. “Go ahead once you're ready -”

“Maybe if you two kept track of the schedules I -”

Izuku bit his lip to keep the curse words in, flinging his hands towards various corners of the room with wordless  _ accio _ -s. It wasn't his best idea, as he was quickly buried under his winter clothes. He managed to burrow out, fully dressed, and then ran down the stairs, Apparating on the last step. 

“Midoriya, do you have to be late if you're showing up to my lessons at all?” Aizawa grouched. 

Izuku jumped a foot in the air and quickly looked around them. “Aizawa-sensei -!” There was no one around. “How did you know I would be here?” 

“I saw you Apparate here yesterday.”  _ “You're predictable.” _ “Suit up, we’re waiting on you.” 

The feeling of the UA gym uniform was both new and nostalgic on Izuku as he ran out to the field where (not including the older students) the UA project students were chatting excitedly while stretching under Aizawa’s watchful gaze. 

“Deku-kun is here!” Uraraka called cheerfully. 

Izuku joined the (odd) circle of Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki, the latter two looking up from their conversation. “Uraraka-san! Iida-kun, Todoroki-kun, I’m glad you both made it!” 

_ More than glad, more than glad, I’ve -  _ Why had the days felt like years? He needed to calm down, actually. Todoroki looked the same, seemed the same, nodded at him in greeting the same while Izuku fought the stupidly Large grin that threatened his very existence. 

“Yes, thank you for considering me for this project, Midoriya-kun!” Iida replied. “I’m very excited to be here with you all!” 

Their circle grew with Yaoyorozu joining them. 

“It’s good to see you, Midoriya-san.” Yaoyorozu greeted. 

“It’s good to see you, too, Yaoyorozu-san!” Izuku replied.  _ She’s so nice.  _

“It’s not good to see me?” Todoroki said. 

_ IT IS.  _

Izuku took a stealthy deep breath to calm down his too excited heart that had jumped at the sound of Todoroki’s voice. It came out a little ragged as he leaned into a deep lunge. 

Yaoyorozu grinned. “Not really.”

Todoroki gave Izuku a pointed look, probably borderline playful. Izuku was two seconds away from asking Uraraka to launch him into space because Todoroki wasn’t even being unfair on purpose. “You’re too cruel.”

_ So this was the Yaoyorozu and Todoroki who grew up together.  _

Aizawa dully announced that they’d be having a Quirk assessment test with the promise of relieving low placing students from the project. 

It was not well received.

The tests were not part of Hogwarts’ curriculum but they were well-known throughout the country and needed little to no explanation. 

Izuku felt as though he were at a slight disadvantage even if he was in less of a panic this time around. The tests were short and not difficult, however with the required application of Quirks... _ I don’t know how the connection is working today.  _ In close quarters and being active not only today, but for a few weeks - if he wasn’t careful then Todoroki was sure to be at least a little suspicious. Not to mention - 

“Are you sick?” 

Izuku was not sick and he couldn’t recall doing anything that would make Todoroki ask. “Why do you ask?”

Todoroki quickly scanned the area around them - their classmates were preoccupied or focused on the 50-meter dash. “Tell me if I’m wrong, but you’re not really using your Quirk?”

_ Merlin, of course.  _ Izuku withheld a groan.  _ The bistro fight, Durmstrang _ . Todoroki would notice a difference when Izuku was the one person who could use his Quirk at full capacity in even the densest magical areas.  _ Now he’s going to think I’m not doing my best and just taking things lightly! Or mocking everyone!  _ He didn’t have an answer. He had to explain without explaining -

And then, boisterous laughter came from the sky as All Might hopped down from the top of the school building, probably. “Good day, shoujo, shounen!” 

“All Might-sensei!” the class cheered. 

“How goes training?” 

“You’re disrupting the assessment test.” Aizawa said. 

“Ha ha! Sorry, Aizawa-kun, everyone! I dropped by because I needed to take Midoriya-shounen.” 

“We’re in the middle of assessment -”

All Might made a panicked motion with his hands and then imitated pushing up glasses on his face.  _ Ah, Sir. _

Aizawa sighed loudly. “Fine, you can go, Midoriya.”

“Ehh! Midoriya, you have to leave during training, too?” Ashido whined. 

“You’re way too busy, dude!” Kirishima cried. “We miss you!” 

“We miss you!” several of them parroted. 

Izuku’s cheeks warmed. “You guys, I won’t be gone long!” he jogged over to All Might, tried not to look back. 

“We better see you tomorrow!” Uraraka called. 

He had to look back then, maybe accidentally making eye contact with Todoroki for half a second too long, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

 

Shouto was only going to admit it once, to himself only, and then never again. 

Aizawa was a hard instructor. This was coming from someone who had gone through Endeavor’s ruthless (and forced) training for the last decade. 

Fuyumi set a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of him and took the seat across from him. “So, how was training today?” 

It was quiet, peaceful with just two other customers several tables over who wouldn’t need anything else for the night.

“It was fine.” Shouto prodded the cinnamon stick in his drink with a finger. Just the slight extension of his arm felt a little heavy but it couldn’t compare to how sore he had felt the day after the truly hardcore obstacle course the day after the assessment test. 

He remembered only those who did well, which meant people who kept up with him ahead of the pack, Iida being one. He had been surprised to see Iida on the training field the first day, but it was nice to see him again. He remembered Midoriya, who had been keeping pace with those eyes - analytical, careful, and then bright with a slight tweak of his Quirk, jumping ahead and smashing through one of Cementoss’ surprise stone pillars. 

He probably should have been offended, if he hadn’t been in awe instead. 

“Do you have training on the emperor’s birthday?” 

“No, a lot of the teachers are going to the party so they cancelled training for the weekend.”

“I heard the next in line for the throne is going to be there. Ah, not the Veela throne, the actual throne.” Fuyumi added. “Are you sure you’re alright with going? Dad might be there.” 

“I’ll go.” 

Shouto always wondered why Fuyumi still called Endeavor, “dad” when the greatest kindness the man had done for her was ignore her. 

Fuyumi blew a sparkling, icy daisy off of her palm, towards him. “Thank you, little brother.” 

He caught it and promised he would wear whatever she wanted him to. “But not blue.”

 

“Midoriya, you look more tired than I do.” Shinsou commented during the morning break in training. 

Too exhausted to filter himself, Izuku replied, “I must look pretty bad then.”

Uraraka choked on her drink.

“Holy shit.” Sero hissed. 

“Brat.” Shinsou knocked him in the head with a can of coffee. “Here.” 

Izuku took it gratefully. “Thank you, Shinsou-kun.” 

“How come when Midoriya roasts Shinsou he gets a drink, but when  _ I  _ roast Shinsou I get hexed?” Kaminari whined. 

“You’re a dumbass, that’s why.” Bakugou scoffed. 

Shinsou ignored them. “You’re not doing crazy extra training with All Might when he comes to take you away, are you? Because that would be unfair.” 

Izuku laughed. “More than unfair, I think I wouldn’t be conscious right now if that were the case.” He had been through All Might’s training regiment. It had been tough, and he wouldn’t have been able to juggle it with UA’s winter training even if he wanted to try. The party preparations were taxing enough along with planning with All Might to keep things in line.  _ All Might is having fun with this, actually.  _

“What was the training for today?” Ojiro asked.

“It wasn’t marked on the schedule.” Iida replied. “The instructor after Aizawa-sensei was also left blank.”

“That’s because  _ I am here _ .” Toshinori - no, currently All Might clad in his silver age hero costume, carrying a large metal box over one shoulder with ease, said as he made his way across the training field where the students were gathered. 

“All Might!” several cheered. Seeing the number one hero never got old, even Izuku couldn’t hold back a grin. 

“Good morning, shoujo, shounen! I have brought a surprise for you all - your hero costumes!” he dropped the box, the weight of it meeting the ground creating a loud clap and sending dust and dirt into the air. “We’ve taken your submitted designs to UA’s private hero costume creators, so suit up and meet at Ground Beta!” 

Everyone was on their feet to receive their suitcase in an instant. 

“Midoriya-shounen, a word, please?” All Might said, trying to keep his voice low and crouching slightly. 

Izuku jogged over to his mentor, knowing what was coming. “What is it?”

“You didn’t submit a design.” 

“Yes.” Izuku nodded. He tried to smile. “I’m sorry.”

“That isn’t like you, to not be on top of things.” All Might said worriedly. “I had thought that you might have forgotten with all of the things on your place, however that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t forget.” 

“Then why?”

They had been speaking in low tones, a little huddled away from the students who were beginning look over. Izuku felt Todoroki’s gaze and anchored himself.  _ This is an important time for all of us.  _

With eyes downcast, Izuku sadly replied, “I’m sorry, All Might.” 

_ But I can wait.  _

 

It bothered Shouto for a good amount of time. 

All Might’s heroes vs. villains exercise was child’s play compared to what Shouto was used to as training, but freezing the building (and half of his body) gave a much welcomed chill to his bones. 

It was kind of like a reminder.

Midoriya hadn’t attended the exercise. By the time Shouto had quickly changed into his very simple hero costume, Midoriya was being sent away by All Might. 

_ Again.  _

For some reason, their connection bothered him because there  _ had  _ to be something else between them besides just teacher and student, besides just Auror and Auror-in-trainee. That look on his face...Shouto didn’t know what All Might had said which caused Midoriya to make that expression. He had never seen Midoriya so sad...so...miserable. He may have been curious as to where and what Midoriya was up to whenever he went off to Merlin knows where, but seeing Midoriya with such a sad smile - 

_ It makes me want to fight him _ . 

It was kind of messed up. There were other things that went into it, of course. Midoriya had a strong Quirk which, if Shouto was right, he hadn’t revealed its upper limit, and Midoriya had All Might’s eyes on him, All Might who Shouto was supposed to one day - 

His phone buzzed in his pocket. 

Yaoyorozu:  We’re outside! 

“They’re here.” Shouto stood up from the cafe couch and put on his suit jacket. 

Fuyumi took out her wand and wordlessly  _ nox _ -ed the cafe lights and tucked her wand into her purse. 

Shouto walked to the waiting car and opened the passenger door as his sister locked up. 

“Thank you.” Fuyumi said, sitting beside Iida Tensei at the wheel. “Good evening, Tensei-kun.” 

“Good evening, Todoroki-san.” 

Shouto quickly checked to make sure his sister’s dress wouldn’t be caught before he shut the car door and joined Iida and Yaoyorozu in the backseat. 

“Thank you again for driving tonight.” Fuyumi said. 

“It’s my pleasure!”

Every few years the emperor sent out invitations to a few hero families for his birthday. Shouto had been to the last one with his siblings and mother, and Endeavor had been blessedly called away for an emergency in the neighboring city. It had been a small, private affair of pro heroes and the emperor’s cabinet officials. 

With such a small guest list and admission onto the grounds after the public visiting hours, it didn’t take long for them to arrive at the Imperial Palace. The Iida’s car was chauffeured away while they were greeted and led by Aizawa, who nodded at his students. 

“I thought you three would be here.” He had dressed up for the party in a black suit, and his hair was loosely tied back. “I can at least expect good behavior from you kids.” 

“Yes, sensei.” they replied. 

“But you -” Aizawa threw a mild glare over his shoulder. “Don’t get roped into drinking too much by Hizashi and Kayama.” he told Ingenium, who laughed and didn’t make any promises. 

Present Mic, dressed in a loud purple suit passed them in the hallway to ferry the next guests. “If I get lost do I scream?” 

“No. Don’t get lost.” Aizawa warned. “And if you get lost anyway, don’t scream.” 

“Then what do I do!?” 

Aizawa didn’t reply. 

The banquet hall was beautifully decorated and fragrant with the light aroma of roasted chestnuts and something herbal Shouto couldn’t place. Above, the space was lit with yellow and red frosted glass lanterns, the glow within twinkling in slow motion. 

“Those are enchanted,” Fuyumi confirmed. “I hope none of the wizards tonight cast  _ finite  _ while we’re in the hall.” She then shooed the three of them away, claiming she had to mingle. 

The Iida brothers had to make rounds as well, though Yaoyorozu remained to keep Shouto company. “At least until Iida-san returns.” She was representing her family tonight. “You look nice tonight, Todoroki-san.” 

Fuyumi had brought out a dark grey suit for the evening with a black tie, not quite clashing with Yaoyorozu’s blue formal dress. “So do you.”

“You know it doesn’t matter if we wear the same colours, right?” She said with a tiny grin. “Though your effort is appreciated.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I don’t want to be associated with you.” 

She scoffed, the motion of her shoulders lifting barely noticeable. “Yes, it’s  _ you  _ who doesn’t want to be mistaken as someone associated with me.” 

The music being played by a live string quintet shifted to a waltz. Yaoyorozu hummed the tune. 

“If I offended you, my bad - can I make it up to you with a dance?” He offered his hand.

Yaoyorozu’s smile widened as she lightly placed her hand on his. “Only because I love to dance.” 

“I know, I know.” 

Shouto didn’t mind dancing. He had learned from Fuyumi, who did ballroom with their brothers when they were younger. Dancing with Yaoyorozu, who was a more than competent dance partner, was almost nice. 

“My parents said that the emperor’s heir was supposed to be present tonight.” Yaoyorozu said. 

“I heard that, as well.” He turned them so that they could both look to his left, where presumably the emperor sat behind the paper screen on an elevated platform in the front of the room. Snowdrops, the symbol of his reign, stood in colourful porcelain vases at the base of the platform. “Are you curious about him?” 

“Aren’t you?” 

“Not really.” he admitted. 

The current emperor had been from the extended imperial clan, something not usually allowed. However, the previous emperor only had a daughter who didn’t have an issue with fulfilling her duty to the throne, and she had fought the council to allow the exception. She officially stepped down, and married a simple Japanese man who worked overseas. The emperor had been good friends with her until her sudden death almost three years ago. 

Beloved, the country had mourned together.

As the song came to an end, Iida took Yaoyorozu onto the next one, letting her spin under his hand in slow, tiny steps to make her dress flare prettily. Shouto almost felt bad that Yaoyorozu had such stiff partners as he watched Iida nearly miss the next beat. But Iida had always been quick on his feet, undeterred by his dress shoes.

Across the hall he saw his sister speaking with Hadou - they had a glass of champagne in each hand.  _ That’s worrisome _ . A waiter appeared in front of him with a tray of flutes filled with pink liquid. Shouto took one without thinking, sending the waiter off. 

“Todoroki-kun, I hope you won’t be drinking that!” Iida yelled from the corner of the dance floor. Several dancers and guests turned to stare at Shouto, some with raised brows. 

Somebody snatched the flute from his hand and someone else knocked his head lightly with their fist. 

“Don’t just take things off of trays, dummy.” Togata scolded with a grin, waving at the party guests. “All good! No alcohol for the minor!” 

“I’m a minor.” Amajiki muttered when the eyes looked away. He had been the one to take the glass. 

“If it’s a magical drink then you can drink it!”  

Amajiki frowned at it for a moment. “I can’t tell if the glass is enchanted or if the drink is.”

“Amajiki-senpai, Togata-senpai.” Shouto inclined his head. “I’m not surprised to see you here, I think.” He had already seen Hadou, after all.

Togata laughed. “Not a bad way to put it!” 

“You drink this, Mirio.”

“Miri - Amajiki, what are you doing with that?” A tall, serious looking, bespectacled man eyed the flute behind Togata and Amajiki. 

“Sir, can we drink this?” Togata turned and asked. 

“Yes, the wine is wizard made.” the man replied. 

“Eh, then why is it pink?” Hadou, with Fuyumi in tow, asked as they joined the group. 

Shouto hadn’t noticed how many more guests had arrived in the last ten minutes. It was still a small amount of people, but there were more huddled groups away from the tables now. He recognized some of the Pro Heroes and relieved that a particular one who would have had a bigger presence in the room was absent. 

“Wow, those are hard to come by.” Fuyumi said, blinking at the flute. “Fairy roses, right?”

The man smiled. “You have good eyes. We have some growing on the grounds. If you would like we could send one to you.” 

She gasped. “Really? Oh, but Sir, they’re so rare, I couldn’t possibly…” 

“I insist. You seem like someone who would take good care of it, Todoroki Fuyumi-san.” 

No longer taken aback by strangers knowing her name because of how famous she was for her eyes, Fuyumi beamed. “Thank you very much!” 

“No fair, I would have given you one if I knew you liked them so much!” Hadou pouted. 

The man smiled and excused himself to the front of the room. A girl with short hair quickly passed him a cordless mic, saying something and shooting finger guns at him before joining the crowd. “If I may have everyone’s attention,” he began, waiting for the noise to die down. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, pro heroes, officials, and family. Some of you know me from work, but to those who don’t, it is nice to meet you, I go by Sir Nighteye and I am the emperor’s consultant, though I would like it more if I were referred to as his friend. 

Thank you for coming to greet His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Yagi.” 

 

“Ack!” Toshinori yelped, jumping away with a gloved hand to his chest. “Shounen! Goodness, you  _ scared  _ me.” 

Izuku sighed, raising his hand to run through his hair - only for it to be slapped away by Recovery Girl’s cane. 

“Oh no, you don’t.” She chided. “Messing up your hair messes up your glamour’s hair, too.”

“You did a good job, shounen. You’re completely unrecognizable.” 

“All Might…” Izuku sighed again. “You can still change your mind -” 

Toshinori placed his hands on Izuku’s shoulders - or he tried, but the glamour made him miss, he got it on the second try. “Midoriya-shounen, I can think of no one else suited for this.” He stepped away for Bubble Girl, who had just flitted into the room, to fix their tuxedos and ties. 

“You look nice, Bubble Girl.” Izuku said with a smile. 

She grinned, cheeks darkening to a pink similar to her gown. “Thank you, Your Highness.” she winked as Izuku repressed another sigh to hide his nerves. “I’ve got to go  - get ready!” she ducked down the hallway to not go around the (enchanted to not cast shadows) screen.

Instead of Toshinori’s (awful) yellow suit that Izuku secretly liked, tonight he was fitted into a crisp, shawled black tuxedo and red tie. It was a good day for him, a good time to invite friends and some of the community. 

“If I may have everyone’s attention,” Nighteye’s voice said through the speakers. 

It was their cue.  _ Gods, that was their cue.  _

_ “Why don’t you join me this time, for the cue?” _

Toshinori gave him a wide grin and a thumbs up as he made his way around the screen. 

“-for coming to greet His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Yagi.” 

The polite clapping turned into some cheers and shouts. Izuku wished he could tell Toshinori that he was always going to be beloved by the people. 

_ Later.  _ He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he listened to Toshinori speak. 

“My friends, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming out to celebrate with me this evening. I know many if not all of you are very busy, and for attending...I am very happy to see you here. I am not a man who usually has much to say, but I do have two things to announce.” Toshinori said warmly. “First, I know this is incredibly short notice, however, I noticed that tomorrow is Christmas Eve...so I open my home to you. You are all welcome to stay the night and spend Christmas Eve brunch with me and my son.” 

My son. 

_ “Izuku? I’ve always liked the name Izuku!”  _

An instant wave of murmurs and mutters swept over the banquet hall, swept against Izuku’s stomach as it flopped up and down. 

“And second, we will release the official announcement before the year ends, but I thought I should let you all in on the secret before everyone else, kind of like a Christmas present from me.” Toshinori paused as the guests laughed. “I would like you all to meet the Crown Prince, Sohi, my son.” 

My son. 

_ “Oh, Izuku, I am so glad to have you as my son.” _

**_“You’ve made me proud, my son.”_ **

Izuku exhaled, straightened his shoulders, and walked around the paper screen as regally as he could, smiling at the crowd that applauded. He bowed to Emperor Yagi, sneaking in a little wink, before he dipped his head towards the guests. 

A few pro heroes handled the crowd to form a sort of line to personally greet Toshinori and meet Izuku, making the latter nervous. 

_ I didn’t get to see the guest list.  _ The Iida brothers were the first he recognized, though when they said “Pleased to meet you”, Izuku allowed himself to worry less.  _ This is fine. I’m fine. You’ve been practicing this glamour charm for months. You’ve got this. Nothing will go wrong.  _ Yaoyorozu came and went, looking refined and mature in her dress. 

The Todoroki siblings bowed and offered their wishes and greetings. 

And then Todoroki’s dual-toned gaze bore into him, openly, without the mistaking that it was longer than a linger. Izuku couldn’t move as Todoroki blinked once, squinted once, before his pupils blew and Izuku didn’t dare breathe.

_ Don’t tell me…  _

“Shouto!” His sister hissed worriedly, a second time. Izuku could barely recall the first. He was so unsure now, up there next to the emperor.

“Is something the matter?” Nighteye asked from beside Toshinori. 

Todoroki, his certain gaze broken, looked down and bowed his head with a murmured apology. The siblings left and the rest of the line went along. 

From beside him, Recovery Girl chuckled. “For a second there I thought he knew who you were.” She said when the party continued. 

_ For a second there you were right.  _

For the rest of the evening, Toshinori and Izuku mingled with the crowd (under close supervision with Nighteye by his side, and selected pro heroes always on the lookout). 

Surprisingly, the number of guests to stay the night were few. But the offer was last minute, after all, and many had promised Christmas Eve plans already. 

Toshinori, Recovery Girl, and Izuku were the first to leave the banquet hall - they had actually snuck away from their guard detail, which upset Nighteye greatly when his seeking spell found them safely in their rooms. Recovery Girl, unbothered head healer for the imperial family, retired to her room the earliest. Toshinori was berated by his ex-sidekick after the hall was cleared and the guests were led to their rooms for the night, and Izuku wandlessly cast a charm to help him silently tiptoe away from the lecture. 

Izuku, with his...clarity, had been in charge of the guard placement and shifts, which he used to his advantage to climb onto the roof overlooking the garden. He couldn’t stay up there for long because Aizawa was scheduled to check the rooftops in a few minutes, but the garden at night was one of Izuku’s favourite views of the castle grounds. He wished he had a map that could reveal a floor plan and it’s occupants to have better insight on his guard routes.  If only a map like one existed. Slipping down, he crept down the hall that would lead to the actual entrance of the eastern garden, with the koi pond. As Prince Sohi he wasn’t supposed to go anywhere without an escort, much less in the middle of the night, but Izuku couldn’t be caught sneaking around the imperial palace either - 

Footsteps. Hurried and light, out of place with Izuku’s schedule to come down this hall. He tensed as the stranger slowed their pace, not even two metres from the moonlight that would have revealed them. But the guard would be coming their way soon, and Izuku hadn’t been attacked yet, so he went forward, wandlessly casting a night vision charm. 

Was he surprised? Yes. But also, no, not really. 

Now they were  _ going  _ to get in trouble - Izuku rushed forward and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him to the convenient little space in the wall, out of the light. Todoroki grunted as Izuku shoved him in first and bit back any noise when Todoroki accidentally elbowed him in the gut and stepped on his foot. 

Izuku cast a Disillusionment charm and as strong of a ward he could in the next fifteen seconds for their little hole in the wall just as the light of a faint  _ lumos  _ crept into the hallway they had been in. The ward was too weak for Izuku’s liking but he hoped it would suffice. He grabbed Todoroki’s arm, followed it down to the back of his hand and tapped it. 

Todoroki shifted closer. Izuku felt his breath by his temple and he stilled further as Todoroki found Izuku’s hand and tapped back. ‘Yes.’

It didn’t make sense for his heart to swell because Todoroki knew morse code but you know what it did more than it should when they were in such a confined space.

‘One minute after the guard passes, go right, and then go right or straight, but not left.’ 

‘Okay.’

The guard, an Auror that Izuku was going to request a magical proficiency test from after that night, passed by without looking in their direction.  _ Don’t blame him, the palace only has one ley line passing through it.  _ With that thought, the  _ lumos _ flickered and then disappeared around the corner. 

It was warm. 

Todoroki’s breathing was even, controlled. 

It was the longest minute in Izuku’s life to pass, where he couldn’t decide if he should be thankful it went so slowly or wonder if there was a god laughing at him. Izuku pressed himself as much as he could on the wall to let Todoroki pass, holding his breath as they bumped walls limbs ( _ and my heart feels a little abused, too) _ . When Todoroki was gone, Izuku had to wait another nine minutes for (his poor heart get back on its feet... _ HEARTS DON’T HAVE FEET why am I like this)  _ the guard cycles to be maneuverable for him to go around. He managed to slip back up to the rooftop overlooking the garden.

Or rather, this time, overlooking Todoroki in the garden. And it was truly embarrassing, how Izuku’s heart beat loud enough in his ears to deafen the windy night. 

_ Get a grip. It’s Todoroki.  _

Todoroki, his soulmate. Todoroki, who crouched down in front of the koi pond, extended his fingers and melted the little frost on the stones that edged along the water, creating short-lived puffs of steam, that, perhaps only to Izuku’s imagination, clung a little longer to Todoroki before dissipating. 

There had been no need for it, as the water was enchanted to always be the perfect temperature for the koi, but that little action, the half second where the steam clung to Todoroki and created an  _ effect -  _

Izuku withheld a sigh, squeezed his eyes shut with his head heavensward, afraid to wish.  _ Todoroki would definitely be the type to know when someone is staring at him.  _ Carefully, he silently jumped off of the roof and onto the stone pathway, the charm allowing him to move soundlessly across the garden. 

Despite that, Todoroki tensed, and Izuku paused on the path. 

Half afraid he was about to be frozen, Izuku cleared his throat, “Good evening.” He grimaced at his glamoured voice, deeper than his own. 

Todoroki stood and turned to face him. Izuku watched as Todoroki’s eyes probably ran over the lines of the glamour. With a quick, wide step forward, Todoroki placed a hand on his shoulder. Spot on. “...Midoriya.” 

The glamour dropping felt like a cotton sheet flying off of his skin. Izuku clamped the back of his neck with a light chuckle. “You saw right through me, huh.” 

“I almost missed it, if that makes you feel any better,” Todoroki didn’t look away as he bowed his head slightly. “Your Highness.” 

Izuku smacked his own face with his right hand and groaned, partly because Todoroki kept his hand where it was. “Please don’t. I’m going to get in so much trouble.” 

“It’s good to know why you’ve been leaving training so early, but sorry for finding out your secret.” Todoroki squeezed his shoulder before letting his hand fall. 

“Are you?” 

Merlin, the head tilt. “No.” 

Izuku shot him a dry look because his heart? Doing exercises on its own. “I don’t have to get someone to make you do an Unbreakable Vow, do I?” 

“No, that’s not necessary.”

_ How about an Unbreakable Vow to stop making me feel this way.  _

He almost reached forward, to tap ‘I know’ on the back of Todoroki’s hand. 

The garden had a thin, charmed dome to offer just a tiny bit of warmth during the winter, though it allowed for the breeze to cause a ripple in the koi pond as Todoroki and Izuku watched them swim.

“Thanks, by the way, for earlier.”

“You shouldn’t be out here,” Izuku said. “Even though you did a good job of avoiding the pro heroes.” It meant that he had to revise the patrols to have fewer holes in them. “You’d have to be pretty stealthy to get past them, especially since this can’t be a place that you’d be familiar with getting around in…” _ Even if he had my help, Todoroki had gone around mostly on his own, and his shoes don’t seem quiet to move in either, and without access to magic then he’d managed to get around with only his skills...even if he used magic, some of the pro heroes here are also Aurors and should be able to detect concealing spells... _ Izuku blinked and realized he had been mumbling. “Ah, sorry.” 

“Midoriya.” 

“Yes?” Izuku looked up to face him.

“Are you...All Might’s secret love child or something?” Todoroki said it so seriously, so out of the blue, and so differently - 

Izuku’s panic was almost too real to handle as he gaped.  _ He really said it. Oh my god, I didn’t think he would say it now,  _ here _ , of all times and places, ahhh what what what -  _

“Well? Are you?” 

The absence of intimidation was so startling in comparison that Izuku sort of wished he hadn’t kept the memory with him for this. “Th-That’s not - no! I mean, even if I was, I would say I wasn’t, so you might even believe me, ah! That’s not how it is! I’m - no, I’m not. Why, why would you think that about me, when I was just announced as Crown Prince tonight?”

Todoroki frowned slightly. “‘That’s not how it is’.” He repeated slowly. “That means there’s a connection between you two that you can’t talk about, right?”

_ Here.  _

“If you have something from the number one hero,” Todoroki said. “Then I have even more reason to beat you.” 

_ This is where you tell me.  _ Izuku couldn’t speak even if wanted to, and he didn’t.  _ Of course it would be different.  _

_ We are different.  _

 

He didn’t know why he told Midoriya everything. He had never thought to reveal so much, so soon, or ever - if anything, if anyone, it should have been Yaoyorozu or perhaps Iida, but…

_ Somehow, to show that I can… _ “The way you use your Quirk sometimes is strange, like you’re unsure until you find the right moment to prove me wrong, but it’s not enough to fully convince me that there’s not more to it. I think I’m stronger than you, in all aspects.” He said simply. “I will rise above you with just my right side.”

It was an odd feeling in his chest at that time.  _ I want him to know. But I don’t know why _ . There was the familiar wash of  _ needing  _ to surpass others to be at the top, by only using his mother’s power, to  _ prove  _ that he can. 

“By only using my right side to win, I will reject him.”

And then there was the new feeling of chagrin - mild, at a simmer...uncomfortable. 

The guests who had taken the emperor’s offer had been offered rooms in the Imperial Household Agency building. From within, a clock rang for midnight. 

“It’s late, we should head back inside.” Shouto turned away, not to run. “I’m sorry for taking up your time.” But why did he have this feeling?

Midoriya’s voice (thank Merlin he had dropped the glamour) soft yet strong, and firm, made him pause, and turn back meet his gaze, unyielding. Oddly vulnerable, still. “I’ve always been supported by many. I’m here because of those people. All Might has always saved people with a fearless smile, and I want to be like him. My motivation might seem trivial compared to yours, but I can’t lose either.”

_ Midoriya,  _ Was this feeling, respect? Awe? 

“I have to live up to the hopes of those who supported me. If this is your declaration of war, then I return it.

“I will beat you, too.” 

_ You speak like a hero.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK. I'M SORRY. BUT I'M HERE! SEASON THREE IS ALMOST HERE!  
> I HAVE NOT ABANDONED SHIP!  
> I had to rewrite chunks of this chapter three times because I couldn't decide on the plot, but it's rolling now!  
> I know Toshinori's birthday is June 10, but the current emperor's birthday is on December 23, and secret identities y'know c; 
> 
> Leave a comment, attack me on twitter/tumblr @empress_matcha


	7. you have high potions scores so you can cook, right? Alternatively: three tales, three tables

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On his back and probably on the waffles Yaoyorozu had every intention of eating that morning, from the goopy feeling he had on the back of his shirt, Shouto found that there were snowdrops drawn on the ceiling and he wondered if they were Midoriya’s favourite flowers.  
> Again, it was probably not a good time to ask.

“Todoroki-kun?!”

Shouto was not having a good morning.

“Iida-san? I heard you shout, is everything alright in there?” Yaoyorozu called.

“Ah, y-yes...everything is fine?” Iida probably wasn’t having a good morning either.

“You don’t sound sure?”

Yaoyorozu always sounded worried so maybe her day wasn’t absolutely ruined.

Shouto sighed into the floor, wanting to smack himself in the face. “My bad, Iida.” but he couldn’t, because his right hand was frozen to the tatami mat and futon, and his left was thawing out Iida.

It was a little embarrassing. And so very strange. Shouto had not lost control of his Quirk since the first few months of it manifesting, and yet this morning he had woken up to it suddenly flaring up in his veins and unleashing from _both_ sides. He had shot his hand up in time for the flames to hit the ceiling instead of the very flammable floor and its occupants. The heat pricked at his fingertips with the sudden, continuous, albeit minor usage.

“Oh! Good morning, Togata-senpai, Prince Sohi!” Yaoyorozu exclaimed.

“Good morning!” Togata boomed.  

“Good morning to you, Yaoyorozu-san - please, Sohi is just fine!”

Shouto suppressed a groan at Midoriya’s glamoured voice. _Wonderful, an audience for my misery._  

“I-I couldn’t!”

“Please, it would help me out a lot. Brunch is just about ready so we’ve come to fetch this hallway.”

“It’s just me, and Iida-san and Todoroki-san in this room.”

“That makes things easy for me! Iida-kun, Todoroki-kun, I’m comin - I’m not coming in, the door is frozen?”

 _Brunch? What time was it?_ It probably wasn’t a good time to ask.

“We have a bit of a situation.” Iida said. “But Todoroki-kun has things under control!”

“I need to turn it up a bit - you shouldn’t be in the ice for too long.” Shouto warned. “Tell me if it gets too hot.”

“Are you guys okay?” Midoriya-Sohi asked. “Hold on, please move aside, Yaoyorozu-san, I think I can -”

The room shuddered with Yaoyorozu’s gasp, and debris flew in.

Iida was freed though he was frozen in shock. Shouto looked behind him.

The front wall of the room had been blasted from floor to ceiling. The Crown Prince had a comical wide-eyed grimace on his face as he dropped the battered door onto rubble. “Oh my god.”

“Um, Your Highness -” Yaoyorozu began, unsure.

Midoriya blinked away from the damage he had caused to Iida and then Shouto, still on the frozen floor.

Togata laughed as he took out his wand.

“Fuyumi-san asked me to let you know that she had gone back earlier this morning to prepare the cafe.” Yaoyorozu said over the amazingly simple, yet very delicious brunch table. “Tensei-san drove her back.”

The destruction of the imperial guest room Shouto and Iida had been staying in brought several adults to the scene, though thankfully it was after Shouto had removed himself from the (ruined) tatami mat. The dismay on one of the staff’s face as they watched Togata vanish ir _reparo_ able objects made Shouto wonder if the room could ever be fully repaired even with magic.

“Did any of you have plans for today?” Emperor Yagi asked with a cheery smile.

“The three of us will be helping out at Todoroki-kun’s sister’s cafe, sir - ah! Your Majest-ty!” Iida faltered.

The emperor clapped his hands. “How wonderful! But what of your families, if I may ask?”

“Yes, of course you may ask, Your Majesty!” Iida’s voice rising with mild panic. “My brother actually will be working...”

Shouto needed another pancake. “Sohi-san,” it was a nice name, actually. He had said _sama_ earlier and Midoriya had thrown him a quick and subtle glare. A pretty, quick, and subtle glare, if one could be. “Could you please pass the pancakes?” If only the glamour wouldn’t flicker and fade and give him a headache, then he wouldn’t have a problem interacting with the Midoriya at all.

“Sure, here you go -!” it was a terrible instant where Shouto could probably only imagine the Quirk activation when Midoriya smacked his elbow on the table - effectively tossing it over along with the other platters of breakfast items and coffees and teas.

On a typical day, Shouto could have lessened the damage. However, on this day, his Quirk ignored the power output that he desired; his ice (thank Merlin at least it was his ice) shoved the table back and up to the opposite end of the imperial tea room.

“Your Majesty!”

“I’m alright! The children -”

“Todoroki-kun, Yaoyorozu-kun?”

“Y-yes, we’re fine!”

“Prince Sohi!”

“I-I’m alright!”

On his back and probably on the waffles Yaoyorozu had every intention of eating that morning, from the goopy feeling he had on the back of his shirt, Shouto found that there were snowdrops drawn on the ceiling and he wondered if they were Midoriya’s favourite flowers.

Again, it was probably not a good time to ask.

 

Raven Tower had been constructed for Izuku. By Izuku. Every stone in the tower was inlaid with enchantments, every other stone had a vein of obsidian which somehow had an effect on his magic. It disrupted, contained, imprisoned. Maybe it was better to say that Izuku had constructed Raven Tower for him.

“I’m designing a birdcage.” He had said to the Aurors when he had told them about his ‘condition’. Unlike most birds, of course, Izuku had the key and didn’t even frequent his cage, though he did consider it as his very homey nest.

A door - unlike Mystery doors, had appeared with Izuku’s name on it at all times and could only be opened by him, and moved from whichever Ministry he stepped on...It wasn’t until the Ministries had contacted him about his Room that they had found out the material could suppress his outbursts. It was always spontaneous. Ever since the first time, years ago, a pattern had never occurred.

This time, the east imperial wing had taken the damage.

It hurt, still. More and more.

“Midoriya-shounen?”

 _Thank Merlin,_ he had slept far away from the guests and the main suites. The night sky was open to him now, dawn slowly peeking through.

Toshinori carefully maneuvered through the wood, stone, furniture.

_“How does it feel,”_

“Are you alright?”

_“This destruction -”_

Izuku released a shaky breath before slowly sitting up. _Ow._ Through the cracks, the light illuminated the worried lines on Toshinori’s face, bounced off of his blue eyes.

_“Isn’t it...heroic,”_

“Yes, All Might.” Smiling hurt, too. There was probably a crack by his temple, judging by how close it was to his left eye.

_“Young god?”_

“I’m sorry.”

“Do not apologize, shounen.” Toshinori gave him a wide smile and a thumbs up. “Let’s see what we can do about this room, shall we?”

The wing would have to be remodeled, unsalvageable along with the trunk full of clothes Izuku had brought along for the holiday with the exception of his Auror uniform and cloak. Toshinori was a shoddy mender but he had mended Izuku’s ruined pajamas with love.

(Oh, but he did glamour over the left behind frays)

Glamoured from head to thread, he swept out from his ruined wing and was greeted by Togata and three other ‘guards’ for the morning. Aurors in suits.

“Good morning, _bocchan_!”

Izuku scowled. “Mirio, _please._ ”

Snickering, Togata bowed along with the other guards. “We’ll be shadowing you today, Sohi-san.”

Crown Prince Sohi and Togata Mirio got along very well, with Togata frequenting guard duty whenever Sohi was out and about, which was rare. Still. Still, Izuku wished they had more time to get along as himself.

He didn’t like being Sohi.

_“I’ve always liked the name Izuku!”_

The guest rooms weren’t far, even as Izuku led the long way around through the gardens and the open halls, just to soak up some sun.

“Oh! Good morning, Togata-senpai, Prince Sohi!” Yaoyorozu exclaimed, bowing.

Izuku inwardly grimaced at the title, politely lowering his head just in case.

“Good morning!” Togata boomed.  

“Good morning to you, Yaoyorozu-san - please, Sohi is just fine!” He said, half pleading.

 _Maybe it’s because of earlier._ Izuku sorrowed at the damage caused to the second historical room of the day.

He had a feeling that it was something else.

The destruction of the dining room was pretty embarrassing, if anyone asked him. And, a real treat for the day, he was bruising from where he accidentally released One-For-All.

Uraraka: Deku-kun! Are you still coming by today?

Dressed in his Auror uniform and raven cloak, a disaster on that Christmas Eve, Izuku replied: Yeah! I’ll be there around noon?

Uraraka: Great!! ^^ I’ll ask my boss to make you something tasty!

After Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and Iida had been dug out of Todoroki’s ice wall, they had bid farewell and went home via artificial fireplace Floo.

At the moment, Izuku was probably lost. Uraraka had sent an address to her holiday workplace in a city not too long of a train ride away. It was pretty busy, since it was Christmas Eve, but the city itself was, thankfully, not too crowded.

He also didn’t accidentally smash any more walls down in the past two hours, so it really had been the soulmate connection messing with their Quirks that morning. Physical distance was playing a part, and so far, typically, the fun little twists that would affect them would last a day at most, so they would be fine. _Should be fine_. Because it was good to be prepared.

Izuku was prepared for anything. He was in all black except for his favourite red shoes, he was having a good hair day, and it was Christmas Eve and the sun was shining as bright as All Might. And! He took the next left and finally found the cafe, not too far from the giant Christmas tree set up near the shopping centres.

Yukine.

“Irasshaimase - Deku-kun!”

Izuku paused, having a rare moment where his brain had to take its time to process the scene.

Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Todoroki and his sister looked up from where they were, all very busily serving around the restaurant (save for Fuyumi who was behind the counter) and dressed in matching uniforms, to greet him.

“Midoriya-kun, we’ve been expecting you!” Iida greeted, coming forward along with Uraraka. “We have a question -”

“Deku-kun, can you cook?” Uraraka said hurriedly, in an urgent voice. “You can, can’t you? Your Potions scores are always high.”

“Uh, that’s not the same -” They all looked really good in the server outfits. Beneath his robes, Izuku lightly dug his nails into his palm to remind himself that ogling Todoroki wasn’t a good move right now, because even if half of the people seated were already ogling Todoroki, it might be more obvious if Izuku ogled Todoroki - _no ogling_. “A little, yes?”

Iida and Uraraka put their hands together and bowed their heads.

“I know I asked you to come over to eat but we’re _reeeaally_ busy,” Uraraka began.

“But Fuyumi-san needs another hand in the kitchen while we serve, so if we could please ask of you!” Iida pleaded.

Izuku started, his brain can process _that_ quickly enough. He managed to stammer a confident affirmative, earning sighs of relief from his friends who shoved him beyond the serving counter.

“We’ve caught one, Fuyumi-san!” Uraraka reported, mock saluted.

“You’re my favourite server, Uraraka-san!” Fuyumi said.

“I helped, too!” Iida said, feigning indignation.

“I’m your brother.” Todoroki said by the counter, setting down a tray with empty glasses and plates.

Fuyumi pushed several little platters towards them. “I’d like any of you more if someone took off that charm on the piano and actually used your hands to play it.”

“Sorry, I’m underaged.”

“You don’t need to be of age to play the piano!” She shooed them away with the food, turning to Izuku with a warm smile and glimmering eyes Izuku knew to be careful around.

Fuyumi smiled at him. “Midoriya Izuku-san?”

He bowed. “Nice to meet you, Todoroki-san.”

She hummed. “Do you call Shouto by his name?”

“N-No.”

Fuyumi clicked her tongue, eyes not quite rolling towards Todoroki’s back before glimmering Izuku’s way. “Then you can call me Fuyumi, Midoriya-kun.” Izuku quickly changed into the same uniform as Iida and Todoroki that Fuyumi had immediately whipped out, but the next two hours were a blur. He wasn’t sure how to describe the ridiculously - well, _magical_ way Fuyumi maneuvered everything, from back in the little kitchen away from the customers to the expensive and complicated-looking espresso machinery at the cozy bar area. Her eyes probably helped. Not just complicated- _looking_ , Fuyumi had shoved Izuku onto the coffee contraptions half an hour ago and he was _pouring_ his hope into the miraculously pretty drinks that they would taste as good as the velvety foam he couldn’t believe he was making. He was mostly just glad he hadn’t dropped anything.

Yaoyorozu fluttered past him to the kitchen, only to return not a minute later to hand out an omelette across the counter for someone else to serve. “Midoriya-kun, I can take over for you here. Fuyumi-san needs your help back there.”

Izuku nodded, topping off the caramel latte he was working on and handed it off, sneaking a quick look at the lobby, which didn’t look any less busy to him. “Thank you, Yaoyorozu-san.”

“No, thank _you_ , Midoriya-san.” Yaoyorozu said cheerfully, looking at home on the bar.

There were a lot of plants in the kitchen; hanging from the ceiling, floating a few inches from countertops, wrapped around poles and such away from food, all of them in multicoloured glass-looking orbs.

Upon entering, they sort of leaned towards Izuku as he made his way to Fuyumi by the stoves, who quickly looked up from her pan to watch Izuku gently poke a leaf from a pot of marigolds, the marigolds somehow looking happier and more golden from the contact.

“You’re good with plants.” Izuku said. “A lot of these are out of season.”

She grinned with a touch of disbelief. “I’m incredibly flattered hearing that from you.”

And she should be, because it was a happy room, so well maintained and separated from the activity on the other side of the swinging door.

He took his place on the stove next to her, supporting in any way he could as Fuyumi waved away the stasis spells on two pans for him to handle. Free to use magic in the space, Izuku set knives to work on vegetables, ladles to stir, while he kept a close eye on how Fuyumi cooked, on the measurements she took, and how she had more magic in a step without thought than when she took out her wand to set another knife to work.

“Midoriya-kun?”

Izuku looked up from the tomato soup, hand on his hip and the other lifted lazily towards the knives so that they don’t do anything crazy.

Fuyumi had coaxed an orb from somewhere near the ceiling, bringing it to eye level. “Do you know what this is?”

 _Yes._ When Todoroki Fuyumi had acquired a fairy rose, he didn’t know. Why did he have to answer, when she already knew? It must have shown on his face anyway, wryness written between his brows and the side of his mouth.

Even if he had kept his face blank, those silver almost all-knowing eyes that practically glimmered under the soft, kitchen lights, read him differently. Her lips were pursed and she had a little crease between her own brows, and if Izuku heard the rumors right, then she would have even narrowed her eyes at him if they weren’t so busy. The wholly magical silver colour faded to grey as they went back to the stovetop, where she waved off the stasis charm on almost ready hotcakes.

She must have known from his clothes, at least, from the Auror uniform or the raven cloak, or maybe from the enchantments on his skin, below it, around him. Fairy roses were rare, knowledge of their existence only given to master herbalists, Unspeakables, and Japanese magical officials in their Ministry, and even within those small groups, it wasn’t exactly common knowledge, much less to know it on sight.

“You’d make a good curse-breaker, Fuyumi-san.” Izuku said, picking the words from one of the many well-known articles about the witch.

Fuyumi plated the hotcakes, began the next dish before ringing the small bell to call one of the servers. “I don’t think I’d be good enough to help you.” She said, with a sort of sad warmth.

“You know I put them on myself.”

“Yes.” She sighed, and Izuku felt guilty for what he can only guess she was feeling. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, smiled, pushed the platter he was working on forward just in time for Iida to rush in and grab the orders.

It took another hour for the orders to slow down, Yaoyorozu reporting dutifully about the lobby.

Fuyumi kicked Izuku out after thanking him, telling him to take the reserved table by the big windows and that she’d make him the meal Uraraka had promised. He changed back into his own clothes, sighing in relief at the familiar weight and enchantments.

Todoroki sat at the table, a large omelette in front of him, still in the cafe uniform.

“Do you mind if I take this seat?” Izuku asked, trying to sound cool even when his collar heated.

Todoroki looked away from the window, met Izuku’s eyes, and tilted his head to the side with a small smile.

Izuku held his breath, struck in different directions.

 

_He had meant to only be out for a little bit, needing a change, needing a little sun. When he said this out loud, he received a warm eye roll and scoff. “Like a plant.”_

_Izuku had laughed, zipping up his black hoodie and throwing his on his backpack. “Do you want anything while I’m out?”_

_A scowl. “I don’t need anything from out there.”_

_“Donuts?”_

_“...Maybe some donuts.”_

_Izuku ruffled light blue hair, disturbing the bird’s nest, and slipping away before he got hit._

_Izuku ended up getting lost, of course, not because he was bad at directions, but because he didn’t usually go on such ventures. He didn’t go far, but it wasn’t so close that he’d be spotted by someone from home. It was a little cafe, too little for the crowd it had at that time, and Izuku had only bothered to be out for donuts, iced coffee, and sunlight._

_“Do you mind if I take this seat?” He asked the guy in the white beanie, seated at the best table (from what he could see) in the cafe._

_The guy had been looking out the window, one hand propped on his chin, and he looked away from the smudged glass, head tilted up at Izuku._

_Izuku was struck by something he couldn’t really name unless he called it The Universe - because he should run, because he should have stayed at home, because this guy was the Hero Shouto, in civies, giving him a small smile._

_“Go ahead.”_

 

Izuku slid into the seat. “Thank you kindly.” 

And he hurts, then, trying not to miss home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the shortest update I've done, but it looks like the next one is going to be much longer! uwu


	8. Embers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouto tore off his apron and went forward, heard his sister and his friends cry out, and then they were behind him.  
> He was through, like the doors were water.  
> The late December evening air was brisk and smoky from the chaos he was about to get into. It could have been a nice night, otherwise, with the moon making a slow and bright ascent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready for some Sadness?

Shouto tried not to stare.

Granted, he was probably out of practice between the one usually being stared _at_ , being what he was, and knowing when other people were staring. Hopefully, nobody would notice.

He threw another glare at a customer whose gaze lingered a little too long on Uraraka, knowing Fuyumi would praise him for it when the guy quickly looked away.

Uraraka chose the next moment to openly gape towards the bar, where Midoriya called out a peppermint latte in a wobbly voice, and Shouto turned just in time to see the wobbly grin on his face as he handed it out to the customer, who looked just as flustered as he felt.

Midoriya said something that made the customer laugh.

Shouto tried not to stare, moving on to the crowd he needed to settle into the cafe, playing host while Yaoyorozu manned the register by herself, Uraraka and Iida running around taking and delivering orders.

Even Fuyumi had been surprised by the traffic they were receiving. Yukine was only opened for a few hours because of the limited-edition meals and prices she offered for Christmas Eve (“For all the lonely people.” she had said), and somehow half the wizarding community had gotten wind of it and decided to bother the establishment.

He blamed her fame. She was both a public figure and not, on a magical and political pedestal without trying. “Now we’re suffering with good business.” He told her, dutifully serving when the line of lonely wizards and witches eased slightly and Yaoyorozu passed him to relieve Midoriya from the espresso machines, Uraraka had taken register, helplessly stealing nervous glances at Midoriya on the bar.

Relatable.

Fuyumi gave him a _look._ “What’s wrong?”

_Please tell me._

He skedaddled out before she could look further. Not that he was hiding anything or whatever.

Shouto ducked out of the kitchen, unable to _not_ watch Yaoyorozu relaying the switch, unable to tear his eyes away as Midoriya called out a caramel latte before rushing to the back, leaving the customer with a large grin after they had taken a sip.

He felt a small pang in his chest and he tried, tried not to stare.

Shouto didn’t do things without reason. Sure, he may have done things with half of one, maybe even an inkling of one can get him moving, but he had a basis.

After - here comes the pun - _royally_ fucking up both the imperial tea room and the guest room that morning, cleaning up a bit, and wishing the imperial staff and family of two a merry holiday; Togata and two other Aurors built a temporary fireplace on the spot for them to travel through, and then the whole room took a moment to hesitate to light it, almost all eyes falling on Shouto, and he couldn’t exactly blame them because, yeah, he -

Prince Sohi had stepped forward with only that stilted second wasted, effectively gathered the gazes as he stooped down and wordlessly brought a fire to burn in the hearth, wand mostly concealed under his sleeve.

Shouto sort of knew what to look for, because he sort of knew Midoriya, sort of knew that Midoriya kind of sucked at spells with wand motions, sort of knew that wizards needed a certain level of elemental affinity to cast and control fire, sort of knew that while Midoriya might have been talented as a wizard but the casting of and coaxing a flame were different from each other.

A person like Shouto, like Endeavor and what few others with a fire Quirk, could coax a flame because it was a part of them, like it had a home in their blood. A wizard would cast fire, only if the embers heeded them, thus the affinity requirement.

Affinities were high level magic theory, and Midoriya had several textbooks on it back at Hogwarts. Midoriya probably had an accurate map of his affinity levels, especially since he was an Auror-in-training.

But...those embers...

All too suddenly, Shouto felt like he knew too much about this boy he had met just a month ago, felt an impending _obliviate_ coming but at the same time trusted Midoriya to not do that to him, and what nearly baseless trust that was -

 _No, not baseless._ He guiltily threw off that moment of mistrust. He had fought next to Midoriya twice, already, the battle at Durmstrang fiercer than any training simulation provided by UA and Endeavor. And if came down to it, he actually still knew nothing about his roommate.

That bothered him even more.

It was Midoriya’s fault, for igniting his curiosity and fanning it with his mysterious everything.

Finally, not more than two hours from when the cafe was supposed to close, it slowed enough to release Midoriya from the kitchen, Fuyumi having to dramatically kick him out. Midoriya ducked away, helped Yaoyorozu on bar for a few drinks and then wiped down the counter and three tables before Fuyumi poked her head out and sent him a withering, silver glare.

Looking a little scared, Midoriya went to the back room to presumably change. Shouto tried not to stare as he went, heading to the kitchen with an order.

“Shouto, what do you know of Midoriya-kun?”

 _Nothing. And it bothers me._ “Why do you ask?”

“I like him.” She said, and for some reason he felt pride. “He’s good with plants.”

“That’s high praise coming from _you_.” He leaned against the counter, watching her work.

She chuckled. “He’s affined with it. You’re good with plants, too, even if you’re not.”

Shouto stilled. _Fuyumi can read affinities._ Her eyes were probably better than affinity exams. “I’m not?”

She quickly looked up from her pan, a flash of silver. “Like zero.” she said, flipping a very large omelette onto a plate, garnished it, and moved on to making a fruit cup.

He considered telling her.

Fuyumi was the first to know that he had a soulmate. Her eyes had immediately glittered silver and pore over him, looking for _anything_ to clue in on who or where they were. In the end, she had sighed, finding nothing and giving him an apologetic smile.

She had always tried her best, with him.  

He shrugged, wrestled with himself to not ask if she thought affinities would have to do with anything with soulmates. “Who is this for?” He asked when she pushed the platter over, not having an order ticket.

“Midoriya-kun, and you, since you need a break.” She said, moving on to the order he had brought. “He should be done changing, but if you don’t see him, I had him sit at your favourite table. And, Shouto,”

He paused, already at the swinging door, raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you think he has nice eyes?” She said in a tone he couldn’t place.

“They’re green?”

She smiled. “Go on, now, before it gets cold.”

“Why are you being weird?”

“I’m not. Go, go.”

He tried not to glare at any specific passerby out the window next to his favourite table in Fuyumi’s cafe. It was his favourite seat where he could still see most of the cafe, and the view of the street opened to most of the city, even if they weren’t high up.

The irritation building in his chest was uncalled for and had no visible root that Shouto wanted to very much snip at but _why hadn’t I noticed anything before?_ Bits and pieces of blurred interactions with Midoriya in the time they had known each other were steadily plunking down into a broken down mini theatre in his head, but they were gone before he could hold onto it.

The disarming lesson at Hogwarts, Midoriya picking up...stepping down from the ceiling as though in slow-motion...walking down Diagon Alley...the sun behind Midoriya in Raven Tower, towel on his shoulders and hair heavier and damp, complexion looking oddly pale, almost translucent in the morning light, like he was fading away - and then it was gone.

Was he getting _obliviated?_ It wouldn’t be a surprise, since he seemed to have trouble bringing up memories where Midoriya was supposed to be, but he knew what being _obliviated_ felt like and Fuyumi would have been able to feel any lingering magic like that...Oh, but Midoriya was an Unspeakable _and_ a spellcrafter, so maybe he had figured out a way to -

_But -_

“Do you mind if I take this seat?”

He had been seriously considering smacking his head onto the glass, so he was slow to focus on Midoriya’s voice. It was sort of like he was hearing it for the first time. _But that’s ridiculous._ They may not have had the same physical closeness as they did in Hogwarts because Midoriya had to up and go and do whatever in Merlin’s space boots, but they had spoken just last night when, wh - _what -_  

_“I will beat you, too.”_

That somehow managed to come up vividly, and Shouto was so relieved (but still worried that there was a chance that he was going crazy) that his face relaxed into what felt like a grimace because a headache decided to pop in.

“Go ahead.”

Midoriya’s cloak did an odd sort of ripple that made Shouto blink as he slid into the seat. “Wow, this looks great! I haven’t had an omelette in so long. But I hope she didn’t think I would finish this all by myself.”

“What, you weren’t going to offer me some?”

The ‘what’ had started off terse but it unknotted in the words that followed into surprising playfulness that Shouto had to mentally grit his teeth at giving himself whiplash.

And Midoriya had the gall, damn him, to giggle.

And the setting sun had the audacity to choose that moment to flush Midoriya in a ridiculously romantic shade of orange, dismissing a single ray in between buildings to streak across his ear to his shoulder, making Midoriya both illuminated and cast in purples acting as faux shadows.

And Shouto may have swooned a bit, unable to not stare this time.

“Only because you crack me up.” Midoriya said with a grin, pushing the omelette to be more centred between them.

Shouto rolled his eyes, rolled his swoon away. The pun simultaneously made him relax and had his heart rate pick up.

What an odd feeling.

They ate the omelette with the nearly the same sort of comfort of when they ate at Hogwarts, a little bubble Shouto hadn’t thought existed until Iida came by to take their drink orders and he heard the idle chatter of the cafe come through. It cost Shouto a mental shiver when he and Midoriya ordered an iced coffee and an orange juice, like they had at the bistro in Diagon Alley, minus the _muffliato_ that he itched to have.  

Merlin, he needed to get a grip.

“Are you alright, Todoroki-kun?” Midoriya asked with a tilt of his head and a smile.

In immediate danger of making eye contact, Shouto snapped his eyes away and they happened to land on Yaoyorozu who stood next to his sister, both who happened to have had been blatantly staring, and his childhood friend of many, many years gave him a slow grin before she looked back down at the espresso machines.

Fuyumi actually cackled loud enough as she retreated back to the kitchen, where he heard Uraraka join in.

 _What the hell._ He thought, trying not to feel betrayed. “Yeah,” his voice cracked and he tried to play it off (play what off, he didn’t know so don’t ask him) by clearing his throat and grabbing his drink. “Why?”

“You seem…” Midoriya lifted a shoulder, smile turning wry. “Like you have something on your mind?”

Their joint effort had gotten them to the bottom of the omelette, because yeah, there was a bottom to the giant omelette that Shouto had thought he had watched Fuyumi make, but she had managed to sneak in a charmed heart made of ketchup, right on the plate, not budging with their forks until Midoriya - with dangerously pink cheeks, flowing to his neck - had waved a _finite_ over it with a nervous, too loud laugh.

Shouto had no proof, and yet so many arrows pointed him to Midoriya. Arrows he couldn’t exactly remember, but they were the only clues he had ever come across when it came to it. Arrows on fire from Midoriya’s own spell that morning.

He should ask. He needed to ask, like in a subtle way. Directly subtle.

“Thanks, for earlier.”

“What?”

Too subtle. “At the -” he cut off, finding anyone not close enough to hear them. “For the fireplace.”

Midoriya beamed and the sun forgot that it was supposed to be setting. Shouto couldn’t blame it. “No problem.”

There. “It didn’t look like you had a problem using fire magic.”

“If I had to do anything fancier with it then we all would have been in trouble, but a small one to start off something that small was fine.”

It was a terrible answer Shouto couldn’t argue with. Midoriya had given more than a yes or no, even explained without explaining how he could but couldn’t really cast fire, and he had offered the information freely. And Shouto didn’t like to pry because he didn’t know how without going in all the way - _You know what._ He _could_ have continued along the conversation by mentioning how Midoriya’s casting seemed odd even for magic, but he felt like he was running out of time.

Midoriya had a knack for suddenly going off to Merlin knows where -

Midoriya’s gaze snapped to the window not a second before the ground shook hard enough for their glasses to nearly topple over along with the table. The light from the sun completely disappeared at the same time screaming and crashing erupted from outside. Midoriya was on his feet before anyone else, Shouto a second behind.

“What’s happening?” Fuyumi strode to the middle of the cafe, where there were still a few customers behind, mostly wizards, probably.

 _What’s happening, is the universe shoving its foot in my face._ Shouto thought humourlessly.

Midoriya was at the door, turned towards them. “Everyone stay here, it’s dangerous outside.”

“Deku-kun? You couldn’t possibly be thinking of -”

Midoriya cut Uraraka off with a smile, too warm and yet devoid of it at the same time. Practiced.

Uraraka froze. He looked at Shouto, who had already begun to move. “Please stay here.”

“What -” Something growled in Shouto’s chest, something stupidly protective -

“Fuyumi-san,” Midoriya had his wand out, had probably checked that everyone in the cafe was luckily non-muggle. “I’m going to put a ward over the cafe, on top of the ones you have and then another on the doors, is that all right with you?”

Fuyumi pursed her lips but nodded. “Yes, go ahead. Shouto,” She gave him a stern look before helping Midoriya with the first ward, over the cafe. “Thank you for warding before you go.”

“Go?” Iida said. “Why would Midoriya-kun go? It’s clearly dangerous out there!”

Midoriya had begun waving a complex ward over the doors when the Patronus swept in, cloaked in glamour to hide its true form, as Aurors were to do. It hurt Shouto’s eyes as they unwillingly tried to wipe away the glamour. He looked away to watch Midoriya work.

 _“Midoriya. We require your assistance. Are you near Tatooin?”_ Came Aizawa’s voice.

He finished with a harsh stab of his wand and then placed his hand on the doors, an odd circle of light and vaguely familiar ancient runes appearing on the wood. “I’m currently in the outskirts of Hosu City. There seems to be trouble here as well.”

Beside Shouto, Fuyumi gasped, eyes silver and focused on the markings. “What in Merlin’s name is _that_.” she whispered.

_“That’s actually good. We’ve been unable to make consistent contact with anyone else over there. Find a group and report as soon as you can.”_

“Understood. Heading out.”

 _“Take care, Midoriya. It looks like it’s what you’ve warned us about. Be prepared.”_ The Patronus faded.

“Wait, Midoriya -”

“Deku-kun -”

Fuyumi stepped forward, back to Midoriya. “I can’t let you guys out there.”

An explosion, and then another, another, something like a building falling, more screams, could be heard in the distance, probably from the centre of the city. The ground shook again, the lights overhead swinging.

Fuyumi waved her hand to wandlessly keep them still, grimacing.

“ _Alone_?” Yaoyorozu cried. “We know Midoriya-san has certain qualifications but it sounds too dangerous -”

“It is too dangerous.” Midoriya said, still with that awful smile. “Please wait here, everyone. The wards will lift once the danger has passed.”

They locked eyes, and Fuyumi was right: Midoriya had pretty eyes that immediately gave Shouto a headache.

...A glamour? But it was impossible for him to not have had noticed it until now, so maybe it was new. He hoped it was new.

_Why?_

Shouto was ready to fight his sister to the door when Midoriya took a step back and fell through them, the door undamaged. Shouto ran to them, saw Midoriya had already activated his Quirk in a flash of light to jump a large distance away from the cafe.

Iida quickly tugged Uraraka’s arm away when she reached a hand for the door. “Wait.”

“I wouldn’t touch the doors, either,” Fuyumi said, brows furrowing. “The ward keeps people in and out, defensive and offensive. I don’t know if it would hurt us or not.”

“Would Deku-kun hurt us, though?” Uraraka asked.

“I have a feeling that it’s to keep Shouto and Tenya-kun out.” Fuyumi said, shooting the boys with a warning glare. “Don’t think I didn’t hear about that night.”

Iida stammered. “H-How - we were told it was to be kept a secret!”

“And it is.” Fuyumi sniffed, folding her arms. “I’m just in on it. Now, away from the scary door, shoo, shoo.” She walked off to speak with the remaining customers in the cafe and tried to comfort those that were more panicked than the rest.

“I’m worried about Midoriya-san.” Yaoyorozu said, hand to her chest. “He’s skilled but...it sounds really bad out there.”

From the windows, they could see parts of the city in flames, brighter in the night, though they were far from any immediate destruction for the moment.

Shouto wasn’t sure but it had probably been five minutes since Midoriya had hopped off towards the danger in the middle of the city. His mind raced. His heart, too, if anyone needed to know.

_Maybe...If…_

Yaoyorozu had a comforting hand on Uraraka’s shoulder, to comfort them both, Shouto knew. Iida worried about his brother being out on duty.

“Midoriya-kun probably has his license, or a form of one to use his Quirk against Villains.” Iida said, hand to his chin in thought. “Though he’s still underaged for magic outside of magical establishments.”

Shouto knew, and he was pretty sure that Fuyumi knew, that Midoriya could probably do what wanted, or what he needed to do. Fuyumi had better eyes, could have probably seen whatever rumoured Auror sigils would have been on Midoriya’s cloak (which Midoriya confirmed were on there, but Shouto couldn’t see them), could have probably seen how much magic Midoriya had and trusted that Midoriya would be fine on skill alone.

Fuyumi had better eyes, but why hadn’t she seen through Prince Sohi? It could be argued that Shouto had always been more sensitive to glamours, but he could also argue that it was because it was Midoriya.  

_Because it’s Midoriya...maybe..._

He felt sort of a lightheaded with what that implied as he took a step back.

“Todoroki-kun? What’s wrong? You look pale.” Uraraka said.

“Don’t worry, Todoroki-kun! My brother is out there and he would protect Midoriya-kun should they run into each other!” Iida said confidently.

 _It’s Midoriya. He wouldn’t hurt us._ Shouto had suspected that Midoriya didn’t go to sleep when Shouto retired to his room for the night at Hogwarts, suspected that he either spent it in the garden above their common room or in his bedroom to practice spells, create wand movements, improve. Midoriya only used spells he was sure would work after trial and errors Shouto barely witnessed but would see evidence of from Midoriya’s sunken eyes in the mornings.

Shouto tore off his apron and went forward, heard his sister and his friends cry out, and then they were behind him.

He was through, like the doors were water.

The late December evening air was brisk and smoky from the chaos he was about to get into. It could have been a nice night, otherwise, with the moon making a slow and bright ascent.

Uraraka and Iida were at the door, mouths open and probably yelling but not touching it. Midoriya might have placed a knockback charm on it. Fuyumi stood behind them with her wand out, eyes silver and challenging the moon, most likely looking for a way to break the ward to grab him back. He believed in his sister’s skills but also doubted she could crack through a ward Midoriya had crafted and probably perfected for who knows how long.

Shouto exhaled but he couldn’t hear it over his heartbeat. He had gone through. Midoriya’s ward, so potent that he could feel the magic on top of his skin, hadn’t stopped him from going.

Maybe it couldn’t.

He tried looking as apologetic as he could, knowing they wouldn’t be able to hear him.

The _maybe_ rang in his head clearly, rooted itself as he turned away from the cafe, became _almost_ as he ran the same way Midoriya had gone.

 _Maybe it’s him._ Was that why Shouto was running towards danger? It hadn’t bothered him before, who it could be, until he had met Midoriya and had said he had one, too. What were the odds?

 _Does he know?_ Midoriya would know, and that meant - that meant some bad things, such as Midoriya keeping it a secret for a month, but there were the _good_ things, if it was him.

_If it’s him. Maybe it’s him._

It would be good, wouldn’t it? It was Midoriya, who -

The city was in flames, in danger, and Shouto ran headlong, alone towards it, towards Midoriya.

 _Does it matter?_ At the very least, his roommate, possible heart roommate was in danger.

Still, his heart felt hot where it sat.

 

_I don’t have time for this._

“I don’t have time for you.” Shouto said.

Endeavor’s scowl deepened. “Why are you out here, Shouto?”

The city was under attack. The flames that hadn’t been caused by Endeavor (number one hero of property damage) showed no signs of stopping or heeding the sidekicks and pro heroes on the street trying to contain it.

It was a shame they couldn’t simply douse it with spells.

Endeavor didn’t wait for a response, instead had already begun to turn around. “Stay behind me.”

“No.” Shouto said immediately, temper rising and climbing up his throat.

“As you are, you would only get in the wa -”

The inhuman screech set a chill up Shouto’s spine with familiarity before the creature, so similar to that from what he saw at Durmstrang, landed not twenty feet away from Shouto and Endeavor, scrambling heroes and sidekicks into a defensive perimeter. But it was too messy. The creature swiped at a sidekick with a speed that didn’t match its bulk, setting too many heroes forward.

Endeavor cursed.

Someone was grabbed just as another creature came streaking past their group overhead, fighting off someone off of its back, flesh-like wings flapping frantically.

Not from it, but from its offender, before vanishing to golden dust, fell black feathers from a raven cloak.

Midoriya wrestled with the thing midair, turning and kicking it away from the group on the ground, jumping in a graceful arc headed straight for the creature holding the sidekick. It sensed him, throwing its head forward to shoot what looked like metal spikes from its hair.

There was no way for Shouto to know if Midoriya would have dodged the projectiles, and he didn’t have the time to think about it because he had long since already sent his ice to make a wall between Midoriya and the creature, faster than both.

Midoriya lightly kicked off of it, not slipping or even making a crack, landing near the group of heroes and immediately raised his wand to weave into the air above him until it took the shape of the Auror emblem. “There are wizards on the hostile side. The usage of magic against enemies has been allowed by the Ministries.” He leaned slightly forward, thick vines bursting from the ground beneath his feet and towards the creature.

Shouto wasn’t given the time to be confused by the vines as the creature screeched. Then, the sidekick was thrown at the front line on the offensive while the creature fought against Midoriya’s vines, one of them wrapped around its arms. _Protego_ s were raised instantly by four wizards in the group and a witch caught the sidekick with a sort of levitating charm. Endeavor began bombarding it with complex attack spells, powerful enough to send it staggering but small enough to keep from hurting their side, which his Quirk was known to do. They were probably the only Aurors out of the twelve sidekicks and heroes trying to surround the creature.

“Why haven’t we heard from anyone?” the witch grunted under the weight of their comrade, levitating charm unable to carry them for too long.

Midoriya came to the sidekick’s side and weaved a simple healing spell over them, one of the few he had taught to Shouto. “The ley lines are too weak to carry most messages sent by spells and there has been something interfering with technology, either a Quirk or from the wards, we don’t know. Some of us have tried sending Patronuses out but…” he trailed off to mutter to the rest of the healing charm. It only took him a few moments to repair what was visible, and then he turned and stalked towards Shouto with eyes wide with worry and a little bit of _I’m about to rip your head off_ , and. Well.

Could anyone blame him when Shouto felt warmth from that? And the timing was off, but he was going to _ask_ -

“What are you -” and then those wide eyes, still glamoured, widened even further. Faster than Shouto could see, Midoriya pushed him into the building Shouto had been standing nearby (nearby like ten metres) with enough force that would have sent Shouto crashing through the window had he not brought up his Quirk to “cushion” him in time.

But he didn’t have time to feel offended or the sure chill weighing in his veins. _I can warm up while catching up._

He had to catch up to the winged creature that had grabbed Midoriya, instead of him.

 _Why did you have to save me?_ Shouto cursed, wished he had his wand as he ran off once again, this time Endeavor’s voice barking over the chaos.

“Come back here! Shouto!”

But he was gone, had some sort of twisted trust in Endeavor enough to keep the other creature from coming after him when he wasn’t looking, wasn’t paying attention to anything except for Midoriya and the winged creature haphazardly swerving in all directions in the air. Midoriya always pushed the creature into the buildings whenever they made contact, but it had four arms grappling for him, and Shouto was going to be amazed by Midoriya’s skill right after they got out of the god damned sky because he was too far to be of any support. He jumped over a fallen streetlamp. While the streets were mostly, oddly empty, there was damage and debris everywhere. He could hear other skirmishes going on but they weren’t running into any of them.

It looked like Midoriya activated his Quirk, getting the creature into a chokehold and they went down, crashing into a bus, metal hood denting under their weight. Shouto caught up as Midoriya removed his knee from the creature’s back, slowly removed his arm from its neck as thick vines wrapped around it.

Midoriya walked to the edge and narrowed glamoured eyes at Shouto, startling him. “What do you think you’re doing out here, Todoroki-kun?”

“I followed you,” _because I need to know._

“How did you even get through my ward?” Midoriya sighed, running a gloved hand through his hair, looking over his shoulder to check the creature, struggling against the bonds.

“I walked through it.” Shouto said honestly.

Midoriya’s gaze snapped back to him, but his features were cool. Shouto distantly thought then, that he didn’t know who he was speaking to anymore. “Through?”

The back of Shouto’s neck prickled.

A spell bounced off of a _protego_ by the time Shouto had turned around, and then another that would have had hit him in the face. Midoriya jumped down by his side, adding another layer to the shield charm as they faced two people a few metres from them.

“Shit.” Midoriya murmured, taking a step forward. The shield charm gained another layer.

They were an unusual looking pair in typical dark, billowing cloaks most wizards preferred, but that was all they seemed to have had in common. The wizard across from Shouto seemed to hunch forward yet seemed more dangerous than if he had been in an attack stance, his face concealed by a bandaged mask. His cloak was bulky from what Shouto would think were weapons.

The witch next to the man had blonde hair in two buns, and a too gleeful grin, and a too gleeful giggle and voice. “It’s you, Midoriya Izuku!” She had metallic things on her shoulders, and she openly twirled her wand in one hand, while her other gripped something beneath her cloak. She couldn’t have had been much older than himself and Midoriya, if at all.

Shouto controlled his breathing, willed himself to not look away from them.

Another layer on the shield charm.

She casually threw a hex over, giggled when it bounced off without damaging the shield. “How naughty! The magic sucks in this city.” she said with a pout. Her focus shifted, digging into her pockets and pulling out what looked like a card, showing it to the wizard beside her. “Look, look, it’s him - but he’s even brighter in person!”

The girl was probably crazy, but Shouto had to agree with her because Midoriya really was bright.

“Todoroki-kun,” Midoriya said in a low voice. “This is bad.”

_Like a star._

The man barely glanced at what happened to be a photo of Midoriya. “I don’t have business with them.”

“You know hand-kun seems to hate him and says he gets in the way.” She tittered.

“We need to run.” Midoriya continued. “They have an anti-apparation ward up...but I think we can still Apparate within its perimeter.”

“I don’t think they’re going to let us run.” Shouto said. _I don’t want to run._

He wanted to hit something.

“Hey, hey, Midoriya Izuku!” the witch called, pocketing her wand along with the photo. “Won’t you tell us what you’re talking about?”

The slight shift in Midoriya’s stance was the only warning Shouto had before the vines shot forward, rolling in and out of the earth towards the witch. The amount of magic Midoriya was outputting for such a large scale spell should have been entirely impossible where they were, the city was too far from a ley line, and yet there it was, completely avoiding the wizard across from them.

The witch jumped side to side to avoid the vines, but she was quickly wrapped up by some that had snuck behind her and was lifted a few metres off the ground. She pouted at her partner. “You’re not going to help meeee?” She whined.

The wizard cocked his head to the side, ignored her. “You could have just bound us both.”

“I wasn’t sure if it would have gotten you in time.” Midoriya said.

“That’s smart, kid.” The man said, grabbing his cloak and flinging it off. “Midoriya Izuku, was it? Do you want to be a hero?” He unsheathed a sword from his back, it was dark with blood.  

Shouto and Midoriya both stiffened at the sight even as the latter responded. “Yes.”

“Why?” the witch called, wiggling in the vines.

“Stain,” Midoriya said suddenly. “Who’s blood is on your blade?”

Stain. “Stain, the Hero Killer?” Shouto asked quietly.

Midoriya nodded.

Merlin, Stain hadn’t been on the news for _months_. Why did he have to show up now, here?

“So you know of me.” Stain said, raising his sword towards the vines holding his collaborator. “Go, children. I have no quarrel with you.”

“I think the blood is from the last hero we ran into.” the witch said casually. “Want me to show you who? Although he’s probably dead now. I’ll tell you if you can guess my name!”

“Toga Himiko.” Midoriya replied stiffly.

Startled, Shouto turned to him. “How do you know them?”

Toga laughed merrily. “Bing bong, you got it! Hey, Stain, let me get some of that -”

Stain didn’t look too happy to do it, but he lifted his sword so that Toga could lick it.

Her body turned liqueous and muddy, slipping from the vines and puddling to the floor,  taking the form of -

“Todoroki-kun, no!”

 _“- He’s probably dead now.”_ She had said.

Shouto heard Midoriya shout. But his ice had already bristled over to the other side.

Tensei - she had taken the form of Iida Tensei -

Stain cut through the ice that would have made contact to him and Toga, the strength he must have possessed shocked Shouto enough through his rage to register Midoriya grabbing his elbow.

“Todoroki-kun, we need to _go_!”

Ingenium’s armour fully formed besides his helmet, and Tensei’s handsome face grinned at them. “Oh, so you know him?”

 _Even his voice_ -

“Todoroki-kun!” A harder tug that had Shouto adjusting his stance, but his rage only climbed.

“How bold of you to attack when you were offered a way out.” Stain said.

Tensei, dead.

“You bastard -” Shouto felt the ripple of the _muffliato_ and he rounded on Midoriya. “What are you _doing_?”

Toga turned back to herself, cackling. “I think we killed their friend!”

Midoriya’s face was contorted, part pained, part determined. “I know. I’m sorry, but we can’t fight them, Todoroki-kun, not now.”

“What are you to do, then, young heroes?” Stain asked, not making a move.

Shouto bristled but mostly towards Midoriya. “What do you mean _not now_? If we leave them here, then who knows how many more lives they would take? Stain alone -”

“Stain alone will kill us here.” Midoriya cut in, eyes darting between Shouto and the opposition. “They both excel in close combat and have blood consumption Quirks. We’re at a severe disadvantage -”

“We can take them.”

“No, we can’t.” Midoriya looked like he was going to reach over and shake Shouto’s shoulders. “If they get close, if we get cut or injured at all -”

“I’ll support you -”

“You would half support me and it would be within a time limit you set yourself.” Midoriya snapped, patience and glamour on his eyes abruptly fleeing, making Shouto wince.

 _Half support -_ Midoriya really had the _nerve_ \- “ _What -_ ”

“We’re starting!” Toga called.

Two thin blades went through the _protego_ , Shouto barely had the ice wall up to block them.

Midoriya cursed as Stain was already _there_ , cutting down the wall.

“It’s foolish to block your view of your enemy.” Stain brought down his sword on Shouto.

Midoriya jumped in front of him - gloved arms raised and rippling, probably from Merlin knows how many protective charms - and blocked the blade directly, grunting against Stain’s strength. “I - you said you didn’t have a quarrel with us.”

“Not with you.” Stain said, pushing Midoriya back, stabbing his sword above Midoriya’s shoulder, inches from Shouto’s face.

Shouto glared back.

“I know the eyes of revenge.” Stain said solemnly. “They do not belong on the face of a true hero. You, boy,” He said to Midoriya with a brief look. “Do not need to try convince him.

“I will purge him, myself.”

Tensei had been a true hero.  

“I can’t let you do that.” Midoriya activated his Quirk and smacked the blade away with a shout, “Ro!” He jumped back with arms reaching for Shouto.

With a chirp that echoed in Shouto’s mind, Rowlet the phoenix swept from the skies, burning towards them in such a bright light that he had to look away.

Shouto felt Midoriya take his hand, and then Midoriya turned, Apparating them both.

 

_“Ro. I may need a favour.”_

_“You hate asking me for favours.”_

_“I know.”_

_“Lovely.”_

 

Mid-apparation, they hit the edge of the anti-apparation ward and Izuku had to redirect them from falling out of the magic. Apparating twice in an instant wasn’t easy, so they almost hit the giant Christmas tree in the square, if not for Todoroki quickly using his Quirk to build an ice slide to the ground.

“Are you hurt, Todoroki-kun?” It was so stupid to suddenly Apparate. Izuku could have splinched Todoroki -

Todoroki rounded on him. “Why did you do that?”

Izuku had to do two things at once. The first was to attempt to placate Todoroki. “We couldn’t have had won against Stain.”

“Stain is one of the most wanted villains. We should have done something.”

The second was to not roll his eyes while doing it, an old, old habit he had dropped just years ago, even though he knew that Todoroki was right. _We should have done something against the murderers._ “The only thing we were doing there was putting our lives at risk. Stain had a partner who killed with him. I had to get us out of there.”

“They killed _Tensei_ -”

“I’m sorry.” And Izuku really was sorry.

He hadn’t expected this attack - and even if he had, then it wouldn’t have had been at such a large scale and so well planned out with so many reinforcements. The timeline had changed.

He wanted to hit something. He should have _known_ All for One would -

Here, he could not afford his past risks. 

When Todoroki began walking away, Izuku wasn’t shocked that it was towards where they had come from.

“Todoroki-kun, if you keep going the way you are now,” _God, why me._ “I will arrest you.”

Todoroki stopped.

Izuku withheld a sigh that would have had been sad, frustrated, and relieved at the same time. “You know, don’t you? You don’t have a license to use your Quirk offensively.”

“And you do?”

“Something like that, but I still try not to use it too much.” It wasn’t easy using the vines anymore. His eyes were tired.

 _“Your favour has been granted.”_ Ro chirped in Izuku’s mind, making him grimace through the flood of relief in his chest.

Ro had steep prices.

“...Then you leave me no choice.”

With no ley lines in the city, the ice would have gotten Izuku if he had blinked - there was no dodging it, and no prep for a proper Full Cowl -

It was like clockwork.

Izuku hissed, gripping his hand with the other, the pain a phantom he knew too well. He had used his right middle finger to blow away the attack -

 _But Merlin’s ass that hurt._ Almost as much as it hurt that Todoroki had actually done that.

“Really?” Izuku bit out a chuckle, hiding the injury behind his cloak.

Todoroki peeled himself off of the ice wall he had made behind him to keep from flying, eyes following Izuku’s movement with a frown. Izuku hoped it was concern. “You -” Todoroki’s expression shifted, launching another high-speed attack.

A bit more prepared, Izuku had the magic in the cloak support him, lifted his left palm up to block. The cloak could have had all the enchantments in the world but Izuku’s body hadn’t been properly trained for that move just yet, so while his left hand didn’t sport any obvious damage, it was already aching as his Quirk blew the ice away.

“You seem off.” Todoroki grunted, head tilting to the side, feigning nonchalance as he shook himself off from the wind. But he was transparent in Izuku’s eyes, anguish so distinct that Izuku felt somehow worse.

It was the hesitance that was mixed in that made the decision for him, that made him shrug off his cloak. Without its weight he felt heavier. A little nervous, very much exposed.

There were villains in the streets, the city was in flames, and if they did this now then Izuku would most likely be unfit for combat should they be ambushed before the anti-apparation ward was lowered. But at that moment there was no one but them and Todoroki needed someone.

Unfortunate that it was Izuku who was nearby.

Izuku, who knew what to look for when it came to Todoroki - knew that another two or three attacks as big and fast as the previous ones would begin inflicting damage on Todoroki’s body if he didn’t warm himself up, knew that Todoroki wasn’t really fighting to Izuku so that he could run off to where Stain and Toga may be, knew that Todoroki hadn’t yet learned how to find acceptance and comfort when things got bad, and Izuku knew that there was a part of Todoroki that was unjustified self-blame.

Izuku sent his cloak away to circle their perimeter and have at least a small ward up so they wouldn’t be ambushed. It would drain magic from him and he would have to keep it in mind until it was done but it was as necessary as it was a borrowed habit.

Todoroki eyed it as it left.

“I’m putting up a ward.” and taking away Izuku’s option of using magic against him, but Todoroki didn’t need to know that.

In the distance, it sounded like someone with a gigantification Quirk had crashed into the ground, setting off car alarms throughout the city.

Izuku fixed his stance to be wider, for physically fighting rather than one for darting and casting, mind racing with the very few options he had for it to come to. He couldn’t help but grin as Todoroki dropped slightly with narrowed eyes. “Well, Todoroki-kun, come at me with everything you’ve got.”

 

_“We’ve assigned one of the top students to be your partner.” Toshinori said._

_Izuku smiled. “To watch me.”_

_Toshinori frowned slightly. “Yes. I apologize, Midoriya-shounen. I had tried my best to deter the council.”_

_“You didn’t have to go through so much trouble, Yagi-san. I know everyone would be more at ease if I didn’t just go off wherever I wanted to.”_

_“You have earned that right!”_

_Izuku shook his head. “Really, it’s fine. I’m fine.”_

_Behind Izuku, a bell chimed to announce an incoming guest. Toshinori nodded so Izuku waved a hand to accept it. Izuku turned, watched as Todoroki stepped out of the portal, eyes immediately finding his._

_“I’m sure you have at least heard of each other, if not have acquainted already,” Toshinori began. “Midoriya-shounen, this is Todoroki Shouto. Todoroki-shounen, this is Midoriya Izuku.”_

 

Shouto doesn’t know when it began to snow.

He doesn’t know when craters in the road happened though he knew it was from Midoriya dodging his faster ice attacks in the beginning. (Midoriya had looked back at the damage with a grimace, as though he were personally receiving a check from the city for it, and maybe that made Shouto’s heart do a thing).

He doesn't know when Midoriya had the time to analyze his Quirk or if Midoriya had simply figured it out from their fight. (He would swoon about that later).

He had felt the frost building up too quickly, knew it would affect his strategy, figured out too late that Midoriya was already ahead of him in the fight by dodging enough to make it an endurance match.

At the last quick surge he had, he put in more force to make up for the speed. Midoriya couldn’t dodge but he deflected it with a stronger attack than the ones he had used before it, crashing into the giant Christmas tree with a cry. Midoriya’s Quirk did not produce the green sparks Shouto didn’t know he had usually looked for, but each blow left him with a more and more pained expression as though Shouto’s ice had hit.

He wanted to ask why he was breaking.

He didn’t know who he would have asked it to, as frost bit into his veins. He had never thought it before but right then it was clear that Midoriya was somehow outmatched. He was used to being the stronger opponent, at least. “Why are you going so far?”

This wasn’t just a practice match. There were no rules, no points, no scores.

_Why am I fighting you?_

It was cold. He might have been a little biased, but it was late December and snowing, and Midoriya wasn’t wearing his cloak. _Maybe he cast a warming charm._

Midoriya set a hand on the tree which thankfully remained upright. “You’re trembling, Todoroki-kun.”

Leave it to Midoriya to have eyesight sharper than glass.

Midoriya leaned against the tree, hissed with every movement even as he took a shuddering breath. “You could warm yourself up with your left side, keep your body from taking damage.”

_I won’t._

He thought about his mother. _I won’t let him win._

It was her Quirk, powerful ice creation and manipulation, that he summoned forth and ran up to close the distance between him and Midoriya.

 _He might have the skill but he’s lacking compared to before - maybe if I could…_ Midoriya looked more beat up at close as Shouto brought his fist down.

Midoriya jumped away, of course, and Shouto sent ice his way. It almost got Midoriya’s leg, but then they were both flying in different directions, Midoriya’s gauntlet being flung somewhere down the street.

Shouto saw it then, the marks too dark to simply be bruising from Quirk usage on Midoriya’s right hand, and he could only imagine the scars that had been there, the scars he had never asked about but meant to, only weeks ago.

“St -” _Stop._

Their next steps were slowed by frost and pain, respectively.

The price of his strong Quirk was hefty though balanced, as Midoriya had figured out.

Still.

His anger rose instead of fire, and it cost him a misstep.

Midoriya’s fist connected to Shouto’s abdomen. Shouto saw the bright red sparks in Midoriya’s veins, like fissures in a volcano.

He wanted to yell, something, anything - why was he still going?

_Why are you letting me hurt you?_

“There’s no way for me to know your resolve,” Midoriya said with a dry cough. Shouto watched the blood drip down from his arm and it made him still in horror, made him listen to Midoriya’s raised voice. “But you’re kidding me if you think you could beat me with half of your strength.”

_“Shouto…”_

“You told me you wanted to be a hero,” Midoriya’s eyes narrowed. “Yet you fight me like this? You expect to rise above everyone else with your half-assed attempt?”

“Shut up.” Shouto snarled. “What do you know?”

“I don’t know.” Midoriya said. “I’m asking you to stop insulting the rest of us reaching for the number one spot, giving it our all, while you think you’d get there with just half of your effort, all because you want to reject your father.”

He recalled crying to his mother when he was five, because it was his fault she had gotten hurt, because a hero like Endeavor had hurt her. He hadn’t wanted to become a hero.

No, he hadn’t wanted to become Endeavor, who hurt her, who was training Shouto to surpass a man Shouto idolized -

_“But you want to be a hero, don’t you?”_

He saw Midoriya coming at him but he was too heavy, too heavy.

Midoriya’s next punch threw him off of his feet and Shouto watched the snow fall from the sky, kind of like how his mother had fallen, too.

 _“It’s okay for_ you _to become one.”_

He recalled the scalding water, Endeavor’s gruff voice telling him his mother was in the hospital, his own words towards the man who happened to be his father.

Midoriya’s teeth were chattering. No warming charm, then.

Shouto was shivering, too, and he almost couldn’t get up on his stiff left leg.

 _“It’s your fault.”_  

“I will reject...his Quirk, his power -”

It was his fault, his fault, his mother had tried to protect him _-_

“It’s _your_ power, isn’t it?” Midoriya voice was rough, quiet, powerful. He had said it gently, the careful words landing heavier than any of either of their previous blows.

He had forgotten.

Somewhere, the clock struck midnight. The giant Christmas tree must have had an automatic timer on it because the lights connected to its branches - spread throughout the (ruined) square - and the star on top, lit up the block in gold, red, and silver.

When Midoriya used his Quirk to propel himself across the distance, Shouto lifted his left hand and tried to remember.

Shouto closed his eyes and remembered.

_“It’s okay for you to become who you want to be.”_

The embers come, flicker over his skin, fingertips, left him for the night. The warmth spread to Midoriya’s hand which he held onto at first contact, pulled and pulled because he was done going down.

_I want to be a hero._

He fell to his knees, bringing Midoriya down, too, or Midoriya went down for him. He fell into Midoriya’s arms, and even though Midoriya hissed from his injuries he kept his broken arms around Shouto, one hand on the back of his head and the other still holding his left hand.

Midoriya supported his weight and in another time Shouto would admit that it was close enough to be called an embrace.

Midoriya was there.

Tears were warm, too.

 

Todoroki healed what he could on Izuku, which wasn’t much but Izuku had smiled anyway.

“I’ll see Recovery Girl later.”

He called back his cloak and still had to sit down to get his magic to spark back with the help of the runes in his cloak, calling it up and down his veins, blinking them into focus.

“What is that?” Todoroki asked with a wince, looking at the top of Izuku’s hair instead.

 _Magic._ “A secret!”

Todoroki snorted. “Of course it is.”

“Ha ha, can you try sending a Patronus?” Izuku said after a good five minutes of build up. He swore his eyeballs were just going to fall off one day.

“Here?”

“Yes, it should be fine.” Izuku said distractedly, tracing ancient runes onto the concrete around him with the tip of his wand.

“I’m underaged and I don’t have my wand.”

Izuku finished a rune and offered his wand by its handle, feeling a little faint from the magical and physical drain and because his heart decided to panic. “Here.”

Todoroki glared at him.

“Uh, do you not want me to look?”

But Izuku knew it was because he had completely ignored a step.

Todoroki was probably too tired to fight any more, so he just sighed. “Only because it’s going to take me an embarrassing amount of tries to properly cast it. It feels like a magical dead zone.” He accepted the wand and weighed it in his palm. “And I don’t know if this will go well.”

_There’s no way I would let it go wrong._

“Okay, okay, I won’t look because it’s going to take you three tries to get such an advanced spell down - ow,” Todoroki had lightly kicked his shoulder. “But I promise there’s enough magic for it to come through.” and Izuku could promise that his wand would obey Todoroki.

The Patronuses came flooding in, out, and through the city, making it look like a concrete forest of ghost animals. With open communication, the nomus and some villains and wizards were captured, and the anti-apparation ward was lifted.

Izuku Apparated them back to Fuyumi’s cafe, leaving the ruined central city behind them. Izuku would have to go back.

Fuyumi, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, and the Iida brothers were furious with worry at their return, clamoring around them immediately.

But Todoroki ran past his sister for Iida Tensei, who was gravely injured, yes, but Rowlet’s tears had brought him from the brink of death and teleported him to the cafe.

“They said...I heard her say -”

Tensei had a nice laugh, a good, deep, older brotherly laugh, if that made sense. “I’m - I’m okay, I think.”

“Deku-kun!” Uraraka gasped. “You’re injured.”

“I’m okay, too. I would love to stay…” Izuku gave them a sheepish grin.

They start to protest, and Izuku nervously put his hands up to placate them.

“They need me back!” The city was a mess and there were only so many Aurors out there.

Evacuation, support, healing, _obliviates_...

“Come back soon.” Todoroki said. “Don’t disappear like last time.”

Izuku’s heart stuttered. “I will.”

 

_Toshinori left them to get acquainted._

_When Izuku was sure the man wouldn’t hear, he let out a laugh._

_Shouto rolled his eyes and grabbed his hand to pull Izuku to his feet, and held it._

_Izuku’s heart rate picked up. “Hi.”_

_Shouto tugged him into an embrace, one hand on Izuku’s hair. “Nice to meet you, Midoriya.”_

 

Four nomus, seventeen small time villains, sixteen wizards, three villains on the danger list, and two districts in flames.

Izuku tugged on his ear, momentarily felt his reminder, and took a deep breath as All Might came to stand beside him. “I’m sorry.”

They stood at the edge of a tower, overlooking most of Hosu and in clear view of the giant Christmas tree to their right. Izuku had done his best to maneuver around the decorations (it had cost some dents in other places on the road, but...) 

It stood proud and beautiful. Gold, red, and silver in the centre of a wrecked city of (impressively-still-intact) lights.  

“This is not your fault, Midoriya-shounen. Do not apologize. You have already done so much and we at least had some knowledge to go by.”

“Not -” He could blame the smoke in the snowfall for his eyes watering. “Not this. Not of this scale.”

Over a hundred civilians caught in the crossfire, mostly injured. Some…

“My boy, we cannot save everyone.”

“But,” Izuku leaned into his mentor’s side and was accepted with a warm squeeze. “But I wanted to try.” he whispered.

“You did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy July!  
> I want to thank everyone who has stuck by this story even though it's still set in December, even when they were confused ^^ I am with you!  
> Also, you may have noticed but I edited a very small flashback in the previous chapter, no word changes! Just alignment to match with this chapter so that it may clue some of you in hehe ^^  
> Please feel free to kudos, comment, bookmark - I would really appreciate it! I try to get to comments as best as I can, and bookmarking/subscribing is more so for the update notices as I have no regular schedule.
> 
> Feel free to also Scream at/with me on twitter: @empress_matcha or/and tumblr: @empressmatcha  
> or if you're shy, which I totally get, I also made a curious cat thing ^^


	9. Midoriya Izuku, Origin Pt. I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku’s affinities combined with his intellect and adaptiveness made him a perfect apprentice.  
> It was fine.  
> Izuku needed to do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some changes in the tags due to level of importance!  
> May change summary a bit?

It didn’t stop snowing.

The first thing Izuku had to do was contact his network and give orders. It was going to be a long night of damage control in more than one way. Containment was priority one, of villains, heroes, and wizards, and civilians. Containment of the city.

Warding two cities was pretty hard. He had to send familiars back to Tatooin with All Might so they could ward for him. It still meant he was warding two cities, and it still meant he was nearly drained by the time was finished layering the charms.

0256

Todoroki: hey

Izuku: hey! (:

Under the light of the giant Christmas tree, he cast a spell to filter the ash from the snowfall. It was a simple spell but a wide dome to cover, the cost nearly made him stagger.

0315

Izuku: ???

Izuku: is everything alright?

Todoroki: are you ok?

Izuku: Still in the city!

Todoroki: nee-san made you dinner

Izuku: :( I may be here for a while

Todoroki: fridge

Todoroki: stasis charm

Izuku: please thank her for me :D

Todoroki: ok

Izuku: please rest

Izuku: it’s late

Todoroki: ok

Todoroki: you too

Izuku: (:

Fuyumi had insisted they all stayed the night at her house and had even extended the invitation to Izuku before he had to return to duty.

“Send me a message if you need another pair of hands, okay?” Fuyumi had offered.

Izuku had almost automatically declined before he realized she most likely had the clearance to help out if she wanted to, anyway. “Thank you, Fuyumi-san.”

“Of course.”

Izuku discreetly tapped the veins in the countertops, just to be safe.

His short fight with Todoroki had ripped his right gauntlet off of his arm but both were damaged beyond repair. He still had to go back to the site and find every little piece so he could destroy it. Lingering magic wasn’t always good when left unattended, damaged or not.

All Might had helped before leaving, too. The tracer on the gauntlet lit up its pieces on the floor but it would have taken Izuku longer if he had to pick them up on his own.

“It is a shame about your gloves, shounen.”

“It’s fine, these were a copy.” Izuku crouched down to wave his hand to vanish a piece.

It was fine but it made him sigh. He had spent months on making that copy to be a near perfect replica of the original. It hadn’t even reached it’s completion as the wards, runes, weaving, and layering of spells on each artificial scale took nearly two hours - all of it, melted away by Todoroki’s resistance to Izuku’s magic. Or something.

Whatever the case was, Izuku’s gauntlets were gone and he wasn’t going to dig out the original pair, so.

_So, hands to myself._

Izuku rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, which was still sore despite the two rounds of healing from Recovery Girl, who had flown in two hours ago.

All of the injured wizards and witches had been sent to a healers’ den an hour ago. The heroes and sidekicks and civilians, however, received medical treatment on site via Recovery Girl, temporary medic tents (which only had four healers), or Izuku -

“Oh no you don’t!”

Well, he tried.

Recovery Girl rushed into the medic tent Izuku had snuck into, brows furrowed. “You are supposed to be resting, young man!”

Izuku tried to look innocent. “You’re supposed to be taking a break, Chiyo baa-san.”

“I was going to but you weren’t there! I knew you’d sneak off!”

“Ha ha...I’ve been caught.”

He rested for about half an hour in the main tent, getting up when Recovery Girl’s breathing deepened, but she was right - he needed to rest at least a little bit. He headed for one of the city support and repair squadrons he helped organize to contain the fires and prevent any more accidents from weakened structures, dropping a crystal the size of a pea along the way.

0545

Iida: Good morning, Midoriya-kun!

Iida: You seem to not have had come back last night??

Izuku: Good morning, Iida-kun!! ^^

Izuku: I’ve been quite busy

Izuku: I’m fine though!! Please tell everyone to take it easy (:

Iida: You should also get some rest!

Izuku: I will when I can! Thank you!

Izuku: By the way

Izuku: There are wards in the middle of the city, so please try to remain in the outskirts :(

Iida: I will inform everyone!

Izuku: I appreciate it (:

Britain’s Ministry sent thirty Aurors to split up between the two cities to help with the injured and some city repairs. Japan’s Ministry sent twenty-eight to do the same. Each Ministry sent five Obliviators which made Izuku blink in surprise when all Aurors and Obliviators reported to him, first, when they arrived right as he sent his message to Iida.

“Auror Midoriya?” One of the English witches stepped forward, looking at his cloak.

Izuku put his phone in his pocket. “Not yet, no.” Making sure his translator charm was on, he raised his voice slightly to welcome the groups. “I’m grateful for everyone coming all this way with such short notice.”

One of the Japanese Obliviators shook his head. “No, we’re very late to the scene. We had heard that communication was cut off from the cities. However…”

“I’m just glad we’re all here now.” Izuku said warmly. “I hadn’t expected so many people. I’m very thankful for your time and support.”

“We will do all that we can to help.”

“Thank you, we need all that we can take.”

There was a bit of insisting from both groups that they had received orders to _only_ receive orders from Izuku but he pointed out that he was only an Auror-in-training and that they were others who had eyes on the situation. He swore that he would notify their departments before they left. He kept the Obliviators within the city to help with support and the medic tents, and to wait for him to call them.

“Or you can save your energy. It will be very busy once we get started on the _obliviates_.” Izuku suggested.

They kindly requested to help instead but promised they wouldn’t use too much energy.

0635

Uraraka: gm deku-kun ^^

Izuku: gm! ^^ you’re up early o.O

Uraraka: iida-kun made us all get up and do exercises together T3T

Izuku: Sounds fun!!

Uraraka: still busy? :c

Izuku: ^^

Uraraka: ;c

Izuku: haha I’m fine!

Uraraka: cant you take a liiiiiiiiiittle break? fuyumi-san says she’s making brunch!

Uraraka: waffles, deku-kun!

Izuku: Can’t :(

Izuku: Sounds tasty though! Please eat well for me! ^^

Uraraka: gotcha :p

Izuku ended the spell and tapped the sidekick’s knee with his wand. “How’s that feel?”

She stretched it easily and grinned. “It’s great!” For someone who had been thrown around by a nomu just a few hours ago, she seemed pretty cheerful, which Izuku was glad for.

“Don’t push this leg too much,” Izuku warned. “I saw that you’ve had injuries there before.”

She got to her feet. “It’s normal, normal! Thanks, wizard boy!” she said cheerily. “I go report to the big tent now, right?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

She bowed on her way out.

Izuku leaned back and tilted his head towards the ceiling, closed his eyes. His magic had somewhat replenished because he had his cloak back on, enough for him to heal small injuries and to provide support to the other healers. But he was exhausted. His body was too heavy for his liking. He had long since accepted his anxiety but his mental strength was still something he was confident in most of the time, so he could at least be sure of his spells and orders.

_Probably._

He stood up and stretched his arms over his head. He made rounds, touched the shoulders of a few of the more tired healers (maybe drew a temporary rune for magic supplication from his own storage).

Halfway through a vial of pepper-up potion, it was yanked from his hand and mouth with a pop.

Midnight tsked as she _vanished_ the vial. “One of the healer’s said that was your third one.”

“I developed potion resistance.” Izuku said cheekily.

“Your body is tired so it won’t have the resistance you think you do.” the potions master huffed, flicking him on the forehead. “You should rest.”

Izuku smiled. “How is Tatooin?”

Midnight sighed. “I think they found everyone a little after I left. The extra Aurors helped since we can’t accept any more help from the agencies.”

“We’re getting the people we’ve found here into groups to get briefed. I think our squadrons found everybody.”

“What of the injured?”

“I think we have a small group left with a few injuries but they’ll be done in a round or two.”

Midnight nodded. “Okay. What do we need for your spell?”

“It’s more your spell than mine,” Izuku said as they left the medic tent, taking his wand out to cast a _muffliato_ around them. “By weaving compatible spells into your Quirk and keeping a steady flow of all variables while keeping all components active -all simultaneously!- then theoretically, the spells weaved in your Quirk would be in effect as it spreads.”

Izuku grabbed at the air, found the hidden flap of a tent and ushered himself and Midnight inside. It was where a handful of Aurors flitted about, making preparations and communicating with Tatooin.

There were scattered greetings, all a little too monotone from exhaustion.

“Theoretically?” Midnight raised a brow. “Or you know.”

“I know the theory works.” Izuku confirmed, slightly sheepish.

Midnight frowned as they seat themselves at the table in the centre. “A citywide _obliviate_ sounds insane, but _two_ cities?”

“Just the area of the ward.”

“It would still probably take hours, if not the rest of the day. I received the map of the places I need to fill but my Quirk needs time to spread if you want it to be an even distribution, and then twice.”

“Eraserhead should be back soon with someone who can help with that.” Izuku assured. He took out his wand from his sleeve. “Meanwhile, do you mind…?”

Midnight laid her palm on the table between them. “A sigil, right?”

“Mine.” Izuku nodded, gently taking her hand in his. “It’ll hurt when it’s active. I’ll add other runes to cut the pain but they’ll burn out the longer we keep the spells open.” He carefully drew on the back of her hand. “Afterwards I’ll have to remove any traces.”

“It won’t fade on its own?”

“Not for a while, since I had to draw it in pretty deep to keep the connection open.”

“It looks like a cluster of ancient runes.” Midnight said, admiring the lines. “Is that flower?”

“They’re similar and some of my runes are the same as the ancient runes here,” Izuku confirmed. He started the smaller protection runes around the sigil. “These are easier to recognize.”

Connect, higher ward, heal, dream, power.

“Do you...miss home?”  

Izuku drew a numbing rune and tapped all of them to make sure magic would flow. “Terribly.” he murmured with a small smile. “But it’s times like this when I feel at home.”

“With magic?”

“With magic.” Izuku let go her hand.

The runes blinked green, animated around the sigil.  

Midnight turned her hand this way and that before bringing it up to her face. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Active runes on skin.”

_“Ancient doesn’t mean dead.”_

“I hope not,” Izuku said, feeling more drained then. He was dreadfully out of practice. “The moment runes begin taking magic from the caster is when the intent is born by making the first movement, and then it keeps taking until the runes can’t find a hold in the world.”

On rare occasions, it had meant that the caster couldn’t control how much the runes would take - so they would be drained dry.

“Movement...wand motions are like runes.” Midnight realized.

Izuku laughed. “A lot of them, yes.” Temporary lines of magic indirectly held through catalysts. It was why new wizards and witches had trouble when they began casting spells, and why Izuku had scoffed at the Hogwarts curriculum.

Ungrounded casting meant magic could escape into nothing but it would still be taken from the caster. Words could bind magic but it wasn’t to the spell, it was to the wizard.

But, it was safe magic. Wizards wouldn’t usually die from learning here.

“Fuyumi-chan would get a kick out of this.” Midnight said.

Izuku stood as he saw the tent flap open. “Todoroki Fuyumi-san is the only witch I’ve met who would have not only the easiest time understanding the fundamentals of magic I know, but to wield it.” He admitted. “She’s terrifying no matter how many times I meet her.”

“Ooh, she loves to hear that.”

“She’ll probably hear it soon, too.” Aizawa said, walking up to the table with Eri in tow.

“Eri-chan! What a wonderful _surprise_ seeing you here!” Midnight exclaimed, eyes narrowing at Aizawa.

“...I like that you blame me first, but I’m also not surprised.”

“Hi, Midnight-san.” Eri beamed. “Izuku.”

“How are you, Eri?” Izuku greeted. “Thank you for coming. And, thank you for bringing her, Aizawa-sensei.”

“You had her hidden well.” Aizawa said.

“Of course. My only interest in Hogwarts was its castle ability.” Izuku said. “What was that about Fuyumi-san?”

“You said you needed Legilimens, she’s the closest to us that I know of that has the capability that you need."

Izuku sighed, covered his face with a hand. “Of course she would be.” He couldn’t leave the area because the wards were active and connected to his runes and familiars, not to mention they’d probably make him rest but he had too much to _do - shit, Tensei._ “I can’t keep up the wards and do the spell with Midnight and the Obliviators if we wait too long.”

Maybe it would be fine if he spent more time on his tree.

“I can grab Todoroki Fuyumi.” Aizawa offered.

“Thank you, Eraserhead, but I’d rather you stay here with Eri-chan.” Izuku smiled. “She’s comfortable with you and there’s going to be a lot going on while I -”

“WHERE IS MIDORIYA?”

The tent hadn’t been loud by any means, but it had been bustling from all the running around of Aurors, who had hushed at Endeavor’s entrance.

From what he knew, Izuku and Endeavor only had one thing in common. It was the fact that though they’ve had the very bare minimum amount of exchanges -

Endeavor’s fiery gaze found him quickly, crossing the room in few, long strides. “You.”

Izuku glared back over his hand, still half over his face. “Endeavor.” he greeted coolly. “You seem troubled.”

\- they openly disliked each other.

“Ridiculous things always happen when you’re involved.”

 _Well,_ Izuku put his hand down and flexed it, immediately tense. _He’s not wrong._ “That’s kind of rude, isn’t it?”

“That _is_ rude, Endeavor.” Midnight scolded. “Also, can you step back? You’re scaring Eri-chan.”

The girl had hidden inside Aizawa’s cloak, behind his leg, looking up curiously between Endeavor and Izuku. Eri wasn’t scared. She had been through worse.

“What seems to be the problem?” Midnight asked.

Endeavor crossed his arms over his chest. “It has been over twelve hours since the attack of the city. There has been minimal briefing and both Auror and Pro Hero sides have been ordered to support the injured and the damaged cityscape, no answers offered as to what had happened the night before.” He narrowed his eyes at Izuku. “I assume that all the secrecy is because of you, Unspeakable Midoriya.”

Izuku mustered up a fake smile. “You assume correctly.” He hated to admit it whenever it happened, but Endeavor wasn’t a top hero for nothing. The man had already been _obliviated_ twice because had gotten too close yet still he would figure something out.

Instinct probably played a big part. Todorokis tended to act on any small hunch they had.

The thought almost lifted Izuku’s mood. Almost, but he was too tired.

An upside to Endeavor’s brilliance, however, was that Izuku didn’t have to beat around the bush. “You’re picking a fight.”

They could go straight to the beating.

“I want answers.” Endeavor growled. “And you’re going to give them to me.”

 

_Izuku met Yagi Toshinori when he was five years old. He had been sitting on the steps with a pot of soil between his criss-crossed legs, hands hovering over the dirt. Though Toshinori climbed the steps with the sun behind him, his shadow didn’t fall on Izuku._

_No shadows fell in the temple._

_It wasn’t as though Izuku didn’t already know who he was. Yagi Toshinori was famous not only in their capital, but worldwide. Izuku had known him before most of the world noticed him._

_Toshinori  greeted him with a friendly smile and before bowing to Izuku’s mother, who had appeared behind him._

_Izuku wondered if the man would autograph his pot._

_Something sparked between his palms, and sparked between his ribs._

_“Hello, High Priestess.”_

_Inko tsked. “Toshinori-san, you look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”_

_“That may be accurate.” Toshinori laughed. “But it is a poor excuse to not have had visited you, old friend.”_

_“Oh, no need for that, Toshinori-san, I can only imagine how much work it takes being Grandmaster.” She bowed her head in turn and reached for Izuku. He picked up his pot and firmly held it in his arm as he reached for his mother’s hand. “Izuku, I want you to meet a very old friend of mine.”_

_Toshinori pouted. “Not ‘very old’.” he smiled at Izuku again and crouched a bit. “Hello, young man, I am the current Grandmaster, Yagi Toshinori.”_

_The temple only brightened as the sun fell. Inko’s enchanted sparklers, soft entities which flickered and sparkled all around and above the temple of the goddess acted as wards and were almost like familiars._

_“The Grandmaster and I have to enter the heart for a little bit, dear,” Inko said, crouching down to wrap her arms around Izuku. “You can go down to play but not too far, alright? Make sure you check in with the Bakugous if you make it to town.”_

_“Yes, mom.”_

_Inko smiled and straightened, pulling down at Toshinori’s sleeve to whisper in his ear._

_The man looked startled for a second before he grinned, also crouching down and waving Izuku over. He placed a simple rune on his pot, and Izuku beamed. But then Toshinori drew a stronger, higher rune (on a little limit so Izuku’s little body could handle it) on the back of Izuku’s right hand, and Izuku burst into tears._

_It took a good ten minutes for the two adults to get him to calm down, there was a lot of hugs and some kisses from Inko before Izuku was off, little pot of soil in his hands, and two runes slowly sinking under clay and skin._

_He was too young to know what either of the runes meant or if they did anything at all, but he felt the magic thrum in his fingertips, warm and safe and bright._

_He goes down the slope leading to the town below with every intention of telling Kacchan about_ the _Grandmaster being in the temple. He didn’t know how to reveal runes once they had sunk in, but maybe Kacchan’s mom could identify them!_

_He rushed down the steps of the temple, the sound light and solid beneath his shoes (enchanted by his mom to keep him grounded just in case he went down the stairs too quickly). He paused when he reached the bottom of the steps, turning right into a little alcove surrounded by floating lights. In the middle, a miniature statue of the goddess sat with a pot between her hands, the seed already breaking through the soil. His mom taught him how to pray, even if he wasn’t entirely sure what the prayer meant. He paid his respects by getting on his knees and clasping his hands together after carefully setting his pot down._

_“Oh goddess R -”_

_The earth shook. The air changed into something different, something magic - something darker._

_The dome Inko maintained over the temple grounds flickered once, twice._

_With the third, holes burned into the protective shield, though they closed almost immediately._

_Still, Izuku knew something had already gone through as he watched the first shadow fall over the temple._

 

Well.

Izuku was on his back, body numb with exhaustion and very low magical reserves. Probably pain, too. He’d feel that once he stopped the pain messages.

Aizawa crouched down next to him. “What happened here?”

He hadn’t even noticed his dome had gone down on its own, probably flickered off because his magic was so thinly spread out everywhere. Izuku tried moving his head to face the hero, only to grunt at the stiffness of his neck, at the loud ringing in his ear. “How is Endeavor?”

“Out cold.”

Izuku sighed, closing his eyes. “Is Midnight around?”

“I’m here.” She called from somewhere to Izuku’s left.

“We need to start now.” Izuku said through clenched teeth, lifting himself up onto his elbows.

“You should really get some rest.” Aizawa said. He was frowning in a different way, in the way Izuku knew to be worried yet just the slightest bit hesitant.

He sat up, the world tilting unpleasantly. “I will, later.” Izuku chuckled tiredly.

It was going to be close, too close, and he didn’t have a lot of options.

He thought of a happy moment, blew it up in his head to cast a small, yet eerily bright Patronus. It was extremely modified and otherworldly, but it couldn’t be helped.

It quickly burst out of sight, and would be back soon.

 

_Most of the light in the house of the High Magi were made by Izuku._

_Though they were small, faint copies of his mother’s familiars and didn’t last nearly as long, they were still pretty. All of the magical lights were his, and recently he had some small success with contracting with flame. He wasn’t going to push that until later._

_Izuku was six._

_He had been living in the house of the High Magi for a little over a year._

_The High Magi was the man ranked below the Grandmaster, though his magical prowess was said to rival that of even the public’s pillar of strength._

_“Welcome back!”_

_“You’re getting better at these.” the High Magi commented. He had been gone for a week and had taken in the floating orbs which greeted him lazily._

_“Really?” Izuku asked excitedly._

_“Yes, they’re brighter than last time, and you can already have so many active at once.” The man patted Izuku’s head. “You’re doing well.”_

_“Thank you, Sensei.”_

_“I’ll be home for a little while this time. Would you like me to help you with your studies?”_

_“Yes, please!”_

 

Izuku held Eri’s hand as they - he, trying not to sway - walked to where Izuku was going to stay for the spell.

She squeezed his hand. “Are you okay?”

He squeezed back. “I’m just a little tired.”

He was a lot of tired, in every way.

Midnight’s position had been where Endeavor and Izuku had ‘talked’ (because Izuku planned it that way and it was one of the cleared streets in the city). Izuku had drawn the runes out around where she sat and had given her a mirror to hold.

They arrive at where he had dropped the crystal, hours ago. It had made good progress, already a sapling taller than Eri.

Izuku and Eri sat down together.

 

_Izuku was twelve when Sensei asked him, “Do you not wish to attend school?”_

_Izuku looked up from a grimoire on astral projection. He blinked. “I never really thought about it.”_

_“How unlike you.”_

_“I mean,” Izuku frowned, considered how private the High Magi was, considered his concealed manor of what society saw as misfits, considered the lack of information the media had on one of the most powerful casters of the millennium. “Would you allow me to?”_

_“Why would I not?”_

_“Ah.”_

_Izuku got in a fight on his first day._

_He had won._

_Kacchan didn’t stand a chance._

 

Eri’s Quirk was unique. Well, all Quirks were, technically, but nothing came to close to what she was capable of, would be capable of. Izuku knew, however, that its high output came with high risks even he couldn’t bend the laws of magic to fully neutralize. It was much harder trying to change the nature of the universe.

Eri sat at the base of the tree, smiling at the fully bloomed flowers.

Izuku reached into his cloak, taking out three crystals, the size of peas from an inner pocket. He cupped them in his hands, one of the first spells he had learned. Kind of.

 _Oh_ , he felt them grow and unfurl, he had to create space and light and warmth so they could grow. The light dimmed for an instant, but he knew what it meant. He finished the spell and ignored the split on the back of his hand.

 _Just a little longer_.

 

_Izuku didn’t go back to school but he didn’t stop studying._

_He loved to learn, loved magic, loved the process of spells, loved what could be done with it._

_And theories._

_Gods, theories on magic. Izuku lived for it and excelled._

_“You want to go to the academy.” Sensei said after Izuku was done explaining as to why he had gotten into a fight with a childhood friend he hadn’t seen in six years._

_Kacchan’s words had hurt, even if being Quirkless didn’t mean Izuku couldn’t one day be Grandmaster._

_“Yes,” Izuku said quietly. “I’m sorry.”_

_“Why are you sorry?”_

_“I never told you.”_

_“You should be more sorry about fighting your friend.”_

_“I’m sorry about that, too.”_

 

Izuku handed the freshly grown fairy roses to Eri. The flowers were bigger than her hands, petals weighted with magic.

Eri looked at the fissures on his hands with sad eyes.

Izuku tried to smile. “It’ll be fine.”

 

_“Necromancy.”_

_Izuku sucked in a breath. He had already known, figured it out over the years. He had to, when the rumours reached him on his very few visits out of the house._

_“You already knew.”_

_“Yes.” Izuku said. He hadn’t asked because he hadn’t known. He didn’t ask before he tried his hardest to find the answer first and more often than not, he found it. “You weren’t trying to hide it from me.”_

_“Not very hard, no. But I did to the rest of your siblings.”_

_Yes, that was true, and Izuku knew that, too. “Why?”_

_“Don’t you know?”_

_He hesitated. “I’m not sure,” he said. “I don’t know.”_

_Sensei tilted his head. “I care about you, Izuku.”_

_Yes. That was true, too._

_“You’re like a son to me.”_

 

When Izuku blinked, he found Aizawa standing in front of Eri, looking at Izuku strangely.

He could feel the chill in his veins.

“I’m going to assume I can’t ask.” Aizawa tried to say casually.

No. He couldn’t speak.

Aizawa was holding his wand to his side.

He swallowed, barely felt the muscle move. “No.” Izuku said quietly, looking down to quickly blink away the magic.

“Should I be worried?”

A bitter bark of something that could have been laughter escapes him.

“A little, yes.”

 

_The other kids at the house suddenly keep their distance except for a few._

_Izuku was fourteen and had just entered his sixth month as Sensei’s apprentice for necromancy. Caster apprenticeships didn’t usually start until sixteen but there was no point in pretending they were bound by such a trivial expectation._

_“Are you going to tell me why you’re doing the apprenticeship or am I still waiting?” Shinsou said one day. He was Izuku’s good friend and one of the newer kids Sensei had taken in._

_Izuku looked up from his cauldron, in the middle of a delicate potion. “What do you mean?”_

_“You don’t like necromancy.”_

_Lips pursed, Izuku turned back to his cauldron, murmured, “Who would?”_

_Necromancy had been taboo up until Sensei had popped out of nowhere with knowledge so vast he couldn’t be ignored by society. Magic was magic, prowess was power, knowledge was standing. Most information on necromancy existed in writing only within the High Magi’s house, a lot of it written by Sensei, himself._

_It was dark magic, truly inhumane magic. Not that dark magic was taboo, itself, but definitely slightly frowned upon with its destructive and manipulative nature._

_Which was fine. Sensei had the affinity for the dark arts, especially with necromancy involving hearts._

_Izuku’s affinities combined with his intellect and adaptiveness made him a perfect apprentice._

_It was fine._

_Izuku needed to do this._

 

Izuku handed Eri the partner of the mirror he had given to Midnight. “Can you see us?”

Midnight peered through the glass. “Yes, very clearly.”

“The mirror will bind to you in just a minute,” Izuku said. “The mirror Eri has will do the same, as well, because the mirrors are sisters, you and Eri will be connected, but this way it isn’t too deep.”

Eri’s Quirk was too unstable.

“How are the runes looking?” Izuku asked.

“All of them are glowing.” Midnight affirmed. “And the one on my hand feels strange.”

“I’m sorry, that’s our connection,” Izuku said. “It shouldn’t be too bad, but I drew another ward around you just in case.”

Izuku took a deep breath and smiled at Eri. “Are you ready?”

She nodded, bravely.

 

_It was tea time._

_Which meant that since tea was then being held in the (artificial) solarium with Yaoyorozu then they were going to be here for a while and she wanted something._

_“Why am I here?” Dabi grumbled under his breath, perfect posture and manners as he flipped the page on his little novel._

_“Because I saw your siblings at the last function and I promised to look after you.” Yaoyorozu replied gracefully, lips curling into a barely ladylike grin._

_He looked up from his page to glare at her but he didn’t complain anymore. “It doesn’t sound like I’m your victim today.”_

_She clapped her hands gleefully. “Today I’m conspiring with the wonderful Shinsou-san.”_

_“I chose the tea.” Shinsou confirmed._

_Izuku sighed. It was him. He was today’s tea intervention._

_“So, Midoriya-san,” Yaoyorozu began, carefully grabbing a pastry from the tiered tray in the middle. “I’d much rather ask you just what awful thing you did to the youngest Todoroki-san but I take it that you being threatened by the High Magi is more important?”_

_Izuku’s mouth dropped. “Threatened?” He turned to his right, to Shinsou. “You thought I was being threatened?”_

_“_ I _don’t,” Shinsou said tiredly. “She does, when I asked her what she thought about you agreeing to the apprenticeship.”_

_Sensei never would have announced it but if he had said he would be choosing an apprentice from the kids then it surely would have been someone at their tea table._

_Dabi was old enough for an apprenticeship._

_Shinsou, Dabi, and Yaoyorozu had affinities connected with the earth or something with spirits._

_Izuku’s strongest affinity was with life and light._

_Not to mention -_

_“It should have been someone wicked,” Dabi said. “Like Mo.”_

_Shinsou nodded. “Like Mo.”_

_Yaoyorozu fluttered her lashes. “Why, thank you, I completely agree.” she chirped. “But don’t ignore my Todoroki question, either!”_

_He was Most Definitely going to ignore it. Izuku groaned, picking up his cup. “Why are you guys like this? Momo, you’re not even part of this house.”_

_She scoffed. “I may as well be, with how often I’m here.”_

_Well, yes. Yaoyorozu’s parents were on the council, sided with the High Magi, so during meetings they had all seen her at the house and had become fast friends with the kids her age._

_“My affinity may be closer to yours than the High Magi’s but my nature is suited for necromancy.”_

_Izuku frowned. “I’m not sure about that.”_

_She shrugged, tucked an imaginary lock of hair behind her ear, every movement graceful. “I don’t think you have the heart to rip one out.”_

_Izuku sucked in a breath, held it to gain confidence even while his common sense tutted at him._

_“It won’t come to that.”_

_The curve of her lips softened along with her gaze as she lifted a hand and put it over his. “It will.” She said with warmth. “You love the High Magi, Midoriya-san,” she said softly, smile falling into something sad and serious. “But he is an evil man, even the wicked side of magic is afraid of him.”_

_Izuku knew, of course he knew. He knew he was smart but Yaoyorozu was smarter and knew that he must have already figured it out._

_What else sort of person would the man who knew how to reanimate a corpse be, when he was the first source to write about how to do so?_

_Still. “You guys don’t know him the same way I do.” Izuku said quietly._

_Dabi sighed._

_Shinsou frowned._

_Yaoyorozu squeezed his hand before fixing her posture, applied her sweet, cheshire grin back on her lovely face._

_“We really don’t. But I’m going to steal that apprenticeship from you, just you wait.”_

_Izuku laughed._

_“Now, what did you do? Drop Todoroki-san’s cake or what?”_

 

“...Did that make sense?”

The Obliviators shared a look with one another before one of them said, “Honestly, no, but we can do it.”

“I’m sorry I can’t really explain -”

The Obliviator laughed. “Seriously, we’re used to it.”

“I’m not really built for long spells, though,” one of the younger Obliviators admitted. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to hold up.”

They all murmured an agreement.

“That’s alright, I understand completely,” Izuku assured them with a smile. “I just need an extra backing from you guys to increase the potency but I’ll be able to control the effects after the initial cast.”

“I’m not entirely sure what you just said to us but we’ll do our best!”

1100

Todoroki: you can come for lunch

Izuku: thank you!! but still working :(

 

_Izuku slammed the tome shut, victorious. It had taken three months but he had gunned through the entire collection of ancient texts on memories that Sensei had in his library. It had been thousands of pages of translations, a few days of infuriating encrypted text that required some rare and difficult potion brewing to get through. The pages of the third book were so thin and fragile Izuku had to find another spell just so they damned thing wouldn’t turn into ashes when he flipped the page._

_It was one of the most awful yet rewarding accomplishments Izuku could claim ever since Sensei had allowed Izuku into his private library as a gift for his fifteenth birthday._

_The collection had been on everything regarding memory, the magic of the mind, protection, removal, how to change someone completely. A lot of theory, some spells and runes hidden in between lines of text._

_Theory was all he needed. He could work with theories until they were something else._

_It was how he found out._

 

Every rune on his body glimmered under his cloak, his clothes. They were warm from the constant flow, some a little too hot from not having been used for quite some time.

The fissures widened.

 _The vessel won’t hold._ Ro told him.

Izuku shifted his weight, knew she was right.

_It’s fine._

 

_Izuku woke up in his dream._

_The world was a familiar hazy space of stars and gold dust._

_“Midoriya?”_

_It was like somebody had taken a cup and placed it under a waterfall._

_It crashed into him, filled him up, overflowed, knocked him down -_

_Shouto._

_“Sho -” his voice cracked and it sent something like lightning in the dreamscape sky. “Shouto.”_

_Shouto took a few steps forward, stopped. “Midoriya,” he raised a hand and placed it flat against something. “Midoriya, how are you here?”_

_Izuku could feel tears streaming down his face, could feel a sob bubbling in his chest that would surely break him. “I -”_

_The haze changed, darkened and swirled into something unwelcome. It began to lap at his heels._

_“I don’t know what this is.” Shouto said. “It wasn’t here before you went away.”_

_Izuku didn’t know what that meant but he knew what it could mean. He wasn’t sure but -_

_Why?_

_Izuku bit his lip, felt all the love and adoration turn bitter and sad from betrayal._

_“Leave this place.”_

_The haze abruptly disappeared._

_The dreamscape sky cleared into the galaxy._

_Izuku walked over to the wall that separated them and placed his hand and forehead against the cool surface. “I’m sorry.”_

_It had always been there but he was going to shatter it -_

_The same way he felt._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did this answer questions or raise more? ^^  
> Izuku's chapter for 9/9 uwu  
> chat with me on twitter: https://twitter.com/empress_matcha   
> or tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/empressmatcha
> 
> leave kudos, comments? or just leave!

**Author's Note:**

> This was fun! Exhausting! I spent hours researching details and then more again trying to create. I think I like what's here, and I'm excited for what's to come for this fic. Thank you for reading!


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